The Strongest is The Heart
by LadyKharis
Summary: A young woman is swept up in powers beyond her control, and meets a troubled Hedgehog. Join her now as she fights to save him from his past, her present and ultimately, their future. ShadowXOC. You have been warned. I do not own Shadow or the other Sonic Characters, only my Oc's. First story. Please comment and review so I know what to work on more for later chapters, thanks!
1. Meetings

**The formation of a Bond Ch.1**

 _It was never meant to happen, but truly, was anything meant to happen that did?_

S _he was a simple school teacher, young at the age of 23 Springs gone by and was both an outgoing young woman as she was cheerful and kind. Her short brown hair flowed gently to her shoulders, her pale skin with a hint of olive soft and dotted with the occasional freckle. Her figure wasn't much at all, with a more rectangular body shape paired with slightly broad shoulders and a small chest. She seemed to radiate a gentle, yet playful air despite her tomboyish frame. She wasn't a knockout by any means, and she would be the first to tell you that she wasn't beautiful or pretty like other women her age. She wore no makeup past Chapstick or lipgloss, mascara used for rare occasions only and nothing else. Her hazel green eyes always glittered though, masking whatever negative emotions she felt in the hopes of sparing others unnecessary burdens. She taught at a small middle school in downtown Station Square, and truly what became of her...is something no one could ever imagine..._

Her eyes looked, troubled, towards the dark oak door that led to her bedroom. She had an early day tomorrow, and knew she had to get to bed within the hour, but she was almost scared to. The past few nights when she dreamed...it hadn't felt like a dream at all and was slowly beginning to wear her down mentally. It was always the same, a large white expanse with nothing to see for miles...except the black creature that stared at her with its ruby red eyes. It appeared to be...a hedgehog almost. But she had never seen a hedgehog so large or standing on two legs before! When she thought about it logically, the dreams had started after she had confiscated a large gem like rock from one of the children on the playground at school. The principal and other teachers couldn't make heads or tails of it, so they decided that she could keep it since she was into the supernatural and spiritual more than they were. Then that night was the beginning of the strange encounter. She had gone to bed like normal after her nightly routine, only to open her eyes what seemed like only seconds later inside that expanse of nothing.

 ***Flashback of the First Dream***

 **A quick glance confirmed that she was still clothed in her nightly attire properly, pink flannel pajama pants that had white and rose red butterflies and white tank top that read 'Royally Tired' with a pink crown beneath it. Her feet were left bare, and she shivered as she could feel the coldness of the floor she was standing upon but couldn't see. She couldn't see anything, anyone no matter which direction she turned and so she began to ran, to call out in a growing sense of desperation. Finally,...she came across another form, a shock of black and streaks of red just sitting on the ground against the white backdrop. She at first thought it was a young preteen, as from what she could tell from their height while sitting, that they would be almost a foot smaller than her own 5'5" frame.**

 **What made her really slow down to a terrified stop though was their form itself, unlike any that she had seen before. It-he?- was covered in almost soft looking black fur with spiked up quills on the back of his head that looked deadly from their sharp edge that she could make out. He wore no clothes except the white gloves with gold armbands on his crossed hands, and strange red, black, white, and gold shoes. He had crimson streaks on his quills and arms and the only animal she could think of that he resembled was a Hedgehog...if not just barely with the tan muzzle and gleaming white chest fur.**

 **Sucking up her quickly dissipating courage, which trembled more as she noted the frown marring his features...she spoke up. "H-Hello? Can you help me...?"**

 ***Flashback end***

She shivered again as she forced herself to crawl into her warm bed, curling herself up in the blankets for some form of comfort as the memory finished playing out behind her closing eyelids. He had been startled, on his feet and whirling around before she could blink and making her back up in fear. His eyes, those bloody red orbs that made the deepest of rubies envious with their color, pinned her own frightened eyes in his shock. "WHO ARE YOU?!" He had called out challengingly, almost threateningly as if he tried to cover up his surprise. Then she had woke up...covered in sweat with tears making pinpricks in her eyes. The next two dreams to follow weren't much better...but she had learned his name last night. Shadow the Hedgehog...certainly fitting. Tonight...perhaps she would muster up the courage not to run away...and tell him her own name.

To tell him she was Kharis Ariadne.


	2. The Next Step

Chapter 2

 _*DreamScape*_

 _She opened her eyes hesitantly, once more in the white void that stretched for miles. She felt her body tense underneath the golden silk of her pajama set, with long sleeves and pants for a warm and cozy attire. She was ready to spring at any moment, to run away despite her previous thoughts. "So you came back..." Came the low, smooth voice behind her. "I-I don't think I have much choice to be here or not..." She said simply, closing her eyes and taking deep breathes to steady her resolve. "Are you not going to try and run today?" He asked, slightly curious to her intentions. "Running won't solve anything...besides...I'm 23 years old, I need to be a bit braver.." She replied softly, turning to face his burning gaze as he stood there watching her with his arms crossed._

 _"Hmm...for a human...bravery can easily be just misplaced foolishness." He stated cold,y, coming to stand beside her as they gazed out into the never ending void. "Perhaps.." She said simply, falling to her knees and settling into a sitting position with her legs folded beside her. He stared at her a bit more, sensing her fear and determination mixing together inside her as he stayed standing._

 _When Shadow had first seen her, he had tried to attack her as his emotions exploded in rage. To him, that tragic scene from the past still haunted him, taunted him in this white space for however long he had been here, alone. He knew not how long he had been in this white void, was it minutes? Days? Years?! His hatred simmering, growing as his memories slowly fractured and distorted. Then she appeared, and after the first initial attack and the following chase that led to her strange disappearance once he caught her...he had begun to think. Even he could tell she was an innocent, with no military training and not scent of bloodlust. But she had ran every time since then, except for now.._

 _Kharis looked up at him, before looking back out at the blankness around them. "Kharis..." She said suddenly, wincing as his head snapped towards her at the sudden break in silence though she kept her eyes averted. "What?" "My name...its Kharis..you told me your name last night...so now I've told you mine." She said, her voice gaining a bit more courage as she stopped stuttering._

 _"Kharis...what does it mean?" He asked softly, mentally cursing at her still tangible fear of him though it was justified. She giggled softly, slowly beginning to relax as he made no signs of violence, just curiosity. "My name is Greek in origin. Kharis means charm, grace, and kindness." She explained happily, loving the meaning of her name. "Bet you don't think it fits, huh?" She added softly, which made him curious..."Why would you think that?" He asked after a second, seeing her crestfallen expression. This woman held no qualms and was very open with her emotions it seemed...it reminded him of Maria...she was terrified one moment, happy the next and now sad._

 _"Well. I'm not very graceful at all, I have little to no charm and many think I'm stuck up and mean, so that must mean I'm not very kind." She explained casually, as if it was a matter of fact that was carved in stone. She didn't know why she was telling him this, when others she tried to talk to just scoffed at her and never took her seriously, thinking she was just being dramatic. Perhaps because she still hoped this was nothing but a strange reoccurring dream, and she needed someone to talk to..._

 _"Hm...well, I don't know you well enough to be a judge of that...but whether it is because of foolishness or bravery, perhaps both, you decided not to run this time. So perhaps if these strange meetings continue...I'll have your answer." Shadow said simply, and he was startled when she gazed at him with a soft smile and laugh. "That's the most I think I've heard you say yet!" Which led him to scoff and turn his head, though he held a small smirk._

 _*Dream ends*_

Kharis awoke at the sound of her alarm and reached over to turn off the annoying rooster calls the little machine emitted. She felt much more rested and awake than she had in the last few days, and she had to smile as she thought back to the dream. They had continued just talking, and she felt so much better now as it seemed they had begun to form an, albeit unsteady, friendship of some sorts. He had tried to kill her upon that first night, and she took the step to offer her hand in peace. He had seemed so tormented by something...especially the fact she was human. It was that first realization that had driven her to try and change things between them last night. Dream or not...no one deserved to suffer. Though she clutched a er chest...she didn't know how long it would take before this fear would fully dissipate, if it ever did. She could still feel his hands clutched around her neck from when he had caught her that first night, strangling her with a fiery and far off gaze in his eyes as he growled at her like some sort of...monster...She was glad she had woken up when she did.

Shaking her mind of the memories, she got up to greet the day. Brushing her teeth after a quick breakfast of eggs and bacon she had cooked the night before, combing her hair so it flowed to her shoulders gently with its natural hint of waves, though it was mostly straight. Dressed in a pair of black dress pants and short sleeved shirt that was a pretty green, she sat once more on her bed. Next to her bed was her white oak bedside table with a butterfly lamp, alarm clock, coaster for a drink if she required one and the strange gem.

She picked up the gem that was a bit bigger than her fist was and held it, feeling the strange rush of energy once more that came every time she was in contact with it. It was shaped like a diamond would be, but she couldn't quite call its whitish gray colored form a diamond. She closed her eyes and begun her daily ritual, which was a light meditation in the morning followed by a more extensive one in the afternoon. She had been using the strange gem as her source of focus ever since it had come to be in her possession.

She focused on its strange energies, imagining them as a bright, positive light wave that she focused into flowing into her body, forcing out and caring away her negative thoughts and emotions and bathing her in warmth. It was a simple meditation technique, but she always felt rejuvenated and powerful now that she added the strange gem to it, though she just chocked it up to her imagination. She also began to feel a strange warmth in her heart lately, like something was growing and forming inside her, but the thought was always cast to the back of her mind.

As she placed the gem into a small container she had bought for it and hid it away for the day, she wondered what today would throw at her this time.

She never would have imagined that she would meet and then house royalty from a different planet, let alone that royalty be a mother and her children...a **_Hedgehog_** mother and her **_Hedgehog_** children...


	3. Meeting the Royals

Chapter 3

The school was cool compared to the heat that graced Station Square that day, as Kharis led her class to recess after everyone had finished their lunch. She had enjoyed teaching her rotation of students that morning as they had come to one of her favorite subjects. Ancient Histories, namely, the Greeks. The school system didn't really enjoy her fascination with that specific topic though, so to keep up with the curriculum she used her passions and created some extra credit work that the children enjoyed.

As her mind spun with the simple joys as she thought of the different myths and legends she could use, she watched all the children play along with a few other teachers on duty. She was glad she wore her comfortable flats today, as soon a group of middle schoolers asked her to come play tag with them. It was unusual for a teacher to play with the kids, especially middle school kids and other teachers looked down and ridiculed her often. She didn't care, it helped her bond with the students and she noticed that children with closer bonds to their teachers learnt the subject materials better as they focused more closely to teachers they looked up to.

She had support for her methods as well, as the school councilor for the children and the elderly Principal both noticed the improved states of the children's attitudes and their grades. As long as her interactions never went to the darker side, they were fine letting her do as she wished. That was never an issue brought up, as even those who scorned her couldn't deny her child like innocence, though they loved to denote it as her naivety since she was still a virgin.

Such thoughts didn't plague Kharis though as she tripped, tumbled, and ran through out the playground with the children, always just running slow enough to be caught every now and then to keep the game fair. It didn't matter that she was 23 years old, didn't matter how much she self-loathed the fact she wasn't feminine or ladylike. As she played those thoughts couldn't reach her as she felt free to be herself and to let go...

What did confuse her was the children that kept animatedly talking about someone called 'Sonic the Hedgehog'. Now Kharis wasn't one to watch the news for anything more than the weather, so she let the children fill her in on the mysterious speedster that was causing such a ruckus in the main part of the city. It made her think of the hedgehog in her dreams...but now, with news of an actual two-legged hedgehog like him walking and talking in reality...was Shadow really just the character of a most bizarre dream or was she somehow really linked to another, living creature?

Distracted by her thoughts as she was, she realized to late that she had ran to close to the ledge of a steep hill near the back of the school, a bit away from the playground. Her surprised scream was echoed by the children who saw her fall down and begin tumbling to the tree line of the forest below, moaning as she finally came to a stop. Her head hurt badly, but it didn't seem to bad and a quick check found no broken bones. Her clothes were ripped and dirty now though, and she guessed she might have had some degree of a concussion judging by how much it throbbed.

How else could she explain the startled green hedgehog gaping at her a few feet away?

He seemed to be around 4'5", with green fur with strangely spiked bangs, warm golden brown eyes, a red vest and tennis shoes. "Dude...that was one major wipeout...you okay?" He asked worriedly, coming over to help Kharis stand up. His voice held a familiar tone to it, like he knew her though she had no clue who he was.

"I've been worse, I suppose..." She said nervously, though forced herself to relax. He didn't outright attack her like Shadow had, so she didn't have the right to judge him based on a previous experience.

"Let's get you back up that hill, can you walk?" He asked, helping her stand then supporting her when she swayed. "...guess not...bummer." He said, helping her up the steep hill slowly as others carefully came down to assist. The other teachers nearly fainted at the sight of the large green hedgehog supporting the woman before them, but the sight of blood beginning to trickle down the side of her face spurred them back into action.

"I'm Manic, by the way." The green hedgehog introduced later, sitting with Kharis in the nurses office. She had refused to go to the hospital despite her light concussion, so the nurse bandaged her head the best she could and gave her instructions to get to a proper doctor for a check up soon to make sure it was nothing severe.

Kharis looked at the hedgehog before her... "I'm Kharis...Kharis Ariadne." She said in turn. "So uh...I know this is comin' from out of no where but...think I could crash at your place? I mean...not just me, but like, my sis and mom to? We...We're not from this area as you can see.." He said awkwardly, and the whole awkwardness caused Kharis to laugh lightly from how random and honestly adorable it was. They just met! Now he was asking if he and his family could live with her? ...She did owe him for helping her she supposed...plus it didn't seem likely that any one else would offer assistance to a walking anthropomorphic hedgehog and his family without calling the government to haul them off to Area 51 or something...

"Um...well...I do live in a two bedroom apartment...so I suppose...? How old are you though?" She asked, to which he relaxed to her agreement of his family's arrangement. "Huh? Oh! I'm 15!" Manic replied. "Besides...not like you should be alone right now anyway with that bruise on your head."

"Right..." _Just what in the name of Olympus did I just agree to...?!_ She thought to herself, exhausted.

The principal let Kharis go home early that day and gave her the month off with pay. Despite her objections that she could still perform her job. She did stop and meet with the children though to reassure them, before Manic began to escort her home as her vision swam more than once. In the parking lot they meet with a pink hedgehog, obviously a female judging by the petite body form and dress. "Yo! Sonia! Kharis said she'd let us crash at her place!" Manic called cheerfully to which the acclaimed Sonia face palmed. "Manic what did you do!? Why is she hurt?!" Sonia screeched, marching up to Manic who hid behind Kharis.

"Um...c-can we just go home...?" Kharis asked, trying to stall the incoming fight with the two brightly colored hedgehogs. They froze, Sonia with her fists raised and Manic cowering comically away from her, and blinked owlishly at her. Kharis was beginning to rethink letting them stay with her...or perhaps that was just the bump on her head.

The way home was...interesting to say the least. Kharis lived a few blocks from the school, further out into the countryside and away from the heart of Station Square. It was a good thing to, as it meant she mostly walked from home to work and vice versa, so she didn't have to worry about driving in her condition. She could have done without all the stares and whispers though! Sonia and Manic made it worse even, walking on either side of her like some sort of body guards! Their backs were straight, eyes fierce and everything about them gave off an aura of protectiveness and determination. But she noticed that they also seemed...to be looking for someone.

Didn't Manic say his sister and mother? So...that meant they were looking for their mom as they made the trip to Kharis' little apartment. It didn't take long to find her.

A scream had the two hedgehogs jumping into action before Kharis could finish blinking, dashing into an alley not to far up ahead. She dashed after them after gathering her bearings, and shooting some light glares at the few people that had been whispering about the group nearby. It didn't seem like any one was calling the cops or animal control just yet, so maybe they just thought they were just kids in costumes?

Not being as fast as the two, it took her a few seconds longer to get to the opening of the ally way...and she wished it took her longer. There, laying prone on the ground were three men, the local drunks if Kharis recalled correctly, unconscious with fresh bruises beginning to appear on what flesh she could see. Further in she saw Manic and Sonia fretting over a tall purple hedgehog woman, whom Kharis assumed automatically was their mother judging by how the woman interacted and handled the two.

The purple hedgehog seemed to be around 5', just a bit shorter than Kharis was and was dressed in a fine white gown with gold trimmings and red cloak held snug around her shoulders with a golden heart clasp. She had startling green eyes, a womanly figure and held herself with the poise and grace Kharis could only associate with royalty. The royalty bit was also cemented when Kharis caught a glimpse of the ornately decorated golden crown that sat upon her head of cascading amethyst locks of hair.

It was obvious the woman had fought back, judging by the slight disarray of her clothing and ruffled appearance, and Sonia and Manic had just finished them off in the seconds after. "Let's get home quick, best not to be standing around in case they wake up..." Kharis said worriedly as she leaned against the wall of the ally, slightly grossed out by the muck on it but shrugging it off as the vision before her swam more violently with the excitement. "Yes, the lady is right, my dears. Let's get away from this dreadful place." The mother said, as Manic came to help Kharis once more as her knees wobbled. As the group of four hurried home, the mother introduced herself as Aleena on the trip back.

Only thing Kharis could think of through the headache though as she talked lightly with the elegant woman was that she had one heck of a tale to tell Shadow that night!


	4. Formation of the Heart

Kharis blushed heavily as she crawled into bed that night. Queen Aleena, called as such once Kharis learned she truly was royalty despite the mobian woman's request of jus 'Aleena', had made a light dinner that night for everyone and wouldn't let Kharis do a thing because of her head wound.

It turned out she had a few scratches and a multitude of bruises from her fall as well, so Sonia helped her get bandaged up. Bad part was, after her bath and getting bandaged- with Manic blindfolded in the living room of her little two bedroom room apartment- Sonia had set out her sleep ware and undergarments for the night.

Kharis fidgeted in the silken nightgown; with its spaghetti straps, low sweeping back that only reached her mid thigh. It was a pretty dark green color with a multitude of black lace going up and down the center, sides and back and along the low sweeping neckline that rested just inches above her bust. It would have been really pretty on her, and it was even one of her favorites, but the image was ruined by the multitude of bandages on her body. Her face flushed even darker still as she thought of Shadow, he would see her like this!

She clutched her prayer/meditation stone close to her chest, deciding to sleep with it that night. When she had shown it to her new friends, they freaked out and called it a 'Chaos Emerald',...whatever that was. She was a bit worried by their reactions, and worried still even more that they might try to take it from her, so she kept it close. It's warm and familiar presence helped soothe her, and she almost swore that it was pulsing energy into her even though she wasn't meditating...

* _Dream scape, Shadow's .*_

 _I waited for her arrival as usual, though there wasn't much else to do otherwise. With her visits I had begun to form distinctions about the passage of time, in which I had no previous way to measure. I had gotten...accustomed to the human woman a little, and she earned a bit of respect when she took the initiative to get to know me instead of continuing to run whenever we met._

 _She reminded me a little of my dear Maria, and I wondered if Maria would have turned out like that woman if she had been able to grow up on that blue planet she always watched. They were nothing alike physically, but in the strange woman I could see the warmth and compassion that Maria had carried herself._

 _We had talked for hours...well...we talked after I stopped trying to obliterate her very being from existence. Kharis..eh? It fit her, despite her strange insistence that it didn't._

 _I never met many humans before other than those on the Ark, but even I knew she had a strangely low self-confidence. I did like her smile though...after we talked properly for the first few hours after she told me her name, I found out how expressive she was. As my mind continued to ponder on the enigma that was Kharis, the woman herself appeared in the usual way, a slow fade in as if she was emerging from a cloud of mist._

 _My brain froze._

 _My heart skipped, before stuttering into a rapid rhythm._

 _Instead of her usual sleepwear that covered her body completely and obscured her form, she was in...far, far less. Her legs were bare all the way to her thighs, as well as her arms and ...oh sweet chaos that really was just to little fabric that was just to thin...!_

 _My face stayed stoic though as my blood began to boil for another reason. She had...bandages on parts of her body, the most notably on her head. "What happened?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm though I mentally winced as she did physically._

 _*Third Person P.O.V -Kharis' Viewpoint*_

 _Kharis flinched back, tugging weakly at the bottom of her short nightgown. She just knew she should have changed it to something more appropriate! But she had been so tired and light-headed from the day's events that she just hadn't been able to, opting for bed sooner rather than later._

 _She laughed awkwardly. "I wasn't paying attention earlier today when I was playing with the children, so I took a..rather comical crash course down the side of the hill...don't worry! The trees at the bottom helped me stop!" She said, giving him a weak grin and a thumbs up. He face palmed in front of her, and motioned for her to sit which she did awkwardly while he refolded his arms._

 _"And what's with your...apparel?" He asked, slowly as if to recollect himself. Kharis sighed again, and began to recount the events of the day to him. He had seemed pretty shocked when she began telling him about the other hedgehogs that she had met, and were now living with. He thought he was the only one like him...and he told her as such._

 _"They explained that they were from a planet called Mobius...perhaps your not as alone as you thought?" She asked kindly as he looked away, contemplating. "I'm still alone, Kharis...because if what you ...if what they say is true, then they were born that way." At her confused expression he sighed bitterly, anger lacing every syllable as he growled. "I was artificially created."_

 _Kharis was stunned, and she swore her heart had frozen with her. He was...created? He wasn't born and raised, but created...like in a lab? That..explained a lot actually. Mindful of those deadly looking quills, she gently tugged him down so he was sitting next to her so she could wrap her arms around and hug him. He was warm, and his fur was so soft despite his body being so tense. "WHAT ARE YO-!?" He started, but was interrupted when Kharis spoke, clutching him tighter to her body with his head on her shoulder. "Your...your not alone. I'm not sure how this connection was made. Not sure on why either, but it was. I won't let you be alone though, no one deserves that no matter how they came into existence. So...even if everyone in the world denies you...I'll accept you, I'll stay with you as long as I am able...so...please don't...say such sad things anymore...ok?" She begged, feeling tears begin to run down her face and onto his fur._

 _Shadow didn't say anything, shocked by her words...her promise. He could feel the wetness of tears seeping into his fur, and he awkwardly placed his own arms around her as well. No one had ever hugged him before...no one but Maria._

 _"I'm...a weapon...the Ultimate Lifeform...do you really wish for one such as I as an ally..after what I tried to do to you?.." He muttered quietly in her hold. "Your Shadow the Hedgehog, and I don't want you as my ally." She said honestly, pushing him away so she could look directly into his eyes that flashed in angered betrayal and smiled brightly and warmly to him. "I want you to be my friend." She continued, and those hurt ruby gems he had as eyes changed into ones of shock and...if he would honestly admit it...hesitant joy._

 _What neither of them noticed though was the Chaos Emerald glowing faintly behind them, left discarded and forgotten in the white space. Back in reality, Kharis' body was glowing the same color as the powerful gem still loosely clutched in her limp grasp, and the small glowing light that was emerging from her chest and taking form. If the gem she had was a Chaos Emerald, then the one that had emerged from her body was undoubtedly a Diamond Heart._

Sonia sighed as she crawled into the full sized bed in the guest room, next to her mother and brother. " Do you think if...we could save her...?" She asked quietly in a voice full of despair. "My darlings...it's not if we could save her...it's that we must. We need to." Queen Aleena replied as she rubbed her children's heads affectionately to try and reassure them. "We will break this tragic cycle. This time, **we will not allow Kharis to die."**


	5. A dumb idea indeed

A couple of weeks had passed since her tumble down the hillside, and everyone was shocked by her speedy recovery. When she went to the clinic the first day after it happened, there were still obvious signs of a concussion and side effects from it forming. Now though, just a scant two weeks later and the doctors couldn't find a trace of any trauma at all! Anywhere!

And she felt bad for the baffled doctors, she truly did. But she knew why her body had healed so quickly though she played it off as the wound being far less severe than what was originally diagnosed. It was because of the Chaos Emerald in her possession. A few days after they had came to live with her, the hedgehog family had sat her down and explained all they knew about the power of the emeralds in full, and she in turn confessed to them about her meditations with it. Queen Aleena was the one who came up with the theory that as she used the whitish-gray emerald more and more in her meditations, she had learned how to tap into the chaos energies naturally. That was something that no one had ever been able to do before...no human at least, and definitely not naturally without the use of machines.

Following that lead, it was Sonia who came up with the creation of the Heart stone Kharis had found. She theorized that as Kharis became more and more in tune with the ancient gem of power, the power that grew inside her formed a physical form itself.

It was no wonder to them when she showed them the small diamond heart she had found in her bed that very morning, which confused her slightly. In fact, they gave off the impression at first that they knew what it was. Even their 'theories' were stated as if they knew them to be concise, inarguable facts! They said it was a diamond, which represented that she was born in April and also fit her personality the best, and it was shaped like a heart for the very same reason.

It was small, about the size one would find in a ring or necklace. But it pulsed lightly, and was so very warm and comforting to Kharis that she refused to be parted with it. If anything they said made sense to the young woman, it was that this Heart was a part of her, a manifestation of her own heart and soul given physical form.

Bringing her mind back to the present, she noticed her hand inside her pocket and grasping the velvet green pouch she had gotten to put the heart in. It pulsed lightly at her touch, warm and comforting as she drove down the small, winding road to the shopping plaza of Station Square. She was on a mission, to get her some new clothes as well as some for her new family. She had taken measurements of them before she departed, and had dug into her savings a little to pay for such a spree.

Kharis had to sweat drop at the memory of Sonia's pouting face when the Queen told her daughter that she wasn't allowed to accompany the human on the trip, so Kharis had to promise she could come next time, and pick the teenager up some beauty supplies. Was beauty supplies really that necessary though..? Most in the makeup department Kharis ever wore was perhaps some mascara and lipgloss...maybe some eyeshadow if the circumstances called for it.

After her little shopping trip, in which she picked up a bit more info on Sonic the Hedgehog, she was heading home when it happened.

She saw a young boy on roller blades going as fast as he safely could to a location, but wasn't school in session? What was he doing? She parked the car as fast as she could near by in a small parking lot, and went after him.

She didn't know why she did it, she almost swore she did it unconsciously. All she knew was that something big was about to happen, and that the Heart was pulsing rapidly in her pocket.

What she found made her almost wish she stayed in the car.

She had followed the boy, albeit with much difficulty since she was on foot, to a construction zone that was currently abandoned. What the boy picked up from the mound of dirt, and unknowingly out of a largely obese bald man's grasp was a very familiar looking gem of a different color. It was a green Chaos Emerald!

*Kharis' P.O.V*

"LOOK OUT!" I cried, forcing my already throbbing legs into action once more as I ran to help the child. Just because I was thin on average didn't mean I was in shape after all. I had been brought up to speed on the round man thanks to Manic, and started watching more of the news in the last week as well. It was Dr. Robot is in the flesh, and that could only mean he meant nothing good for the child, or the emerald.

"Blasted interlopers! Give me that Emerald!" He bellowed, ripping it from the boys hand before I could get close enough and jumped into a strange...metal half orb of a machine. I was dumbfounded on how it began to hover and fly despite his obvious density in weight, but spared no second as I saw the boy latch on to the bottom. Using a small burst, I jumped on to the other wing and held on for dear life as it flung into the air at rapid speed in take off. "Hey! Get off! This isn't a ride!" The man bellowed again, and I wanted to roll my eyes, though I tried to keep his attention as I made note that the boy was climbing up on the other side.

"If it was a ride, it would be a pretty poor one!" She said weakly, trying to goad the man into anger. It was the most idiotic plan she had, but she had never been in this position before and didn't know what to do! Her body was pumping adrenaline faster than ever before, shaking as it clung tightly to the wing before she finally got it to move as the man tried to drive the contraption and steady it from the unbalanced weight-load. She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck to prevent from falling down to her death when it happened.

The Chaos Emerald in his hand hit against the pocket where the Heart was located in his attempt to dislodge her, and created a bright flash of light that blinded them. She felt an uncontrolled burst of energy that flooded her system and she could barely make out the Doctor's confused shouts and the boys scream that echoed her own. Squinting as a wave of pain flooded her mind, she attempted once more to help the child and shoved the Chaos Emerald into his grasp before she blacked out.

*No ones P.O.V*

Down below the city streets where in an uproar as they watched the insane Doctor Eggman's egg-carrier careen through the sky almost uncontrollably. Sonic was down below, running after it as fast as he could when even he had to stop and cover his eyes from the blinding light that just erupted from it. "CHRIS!" He cried out as he jumped to sonic speeds in half a second once the light dimmed enough for everyone to see...

Just to see Chris falling from a height that could only end in his death.

Sonic raced, using his momentum to run up buildings and his strong legs to jump, catching the boy gently in his arms and saving the human adolescent from death. "You okay, bud?!" The blue hero asked once Chris opened his eyes. "I'm okay, Sonic! I even got a Chaos Emerald!" He said, winded but happy and showed it to Sonic. "But Sonic...! There was someone else with me! She tried to stop Eggman to! But when the Chaos Emerald came in contact with her, it created that blinding light!" Chris explained fearfully. Sonic nodded, confused but with his hero instincts still in high gear he put Chris down and ordered the human lad to get back home safely, he'd see about the

mysterious woman.

Dr. Eggman was blinded for a few seconds, angered he had lost the Chaos Emerald to nothing but a woman and a mere child! The woman was half way in his carrier, unconscious and her body twitched every now in then as what he could only guess was spasms of pain. He wondered why the Chaos Emerald had such an effect with her though. If he had to guess, it was as if the coveted Emerald had just pumped an unimaginable amount of power and energy into her, but why would it do that?

He debated about taking her back to his island fortress to do some experiments, but when he saw that blasted blue rodent heading his way, that plan was set to the back burner as he immediately took off, tossing the limp body onto a near by rooftop so the weight wouldn't slow his escape down. He'll come back for her later.

Sonic reached the rooftop just in time to catch the tossed out body of the mysterious woman, struggling a little as she was taller than him as an adult human normally was. He was able to keep her from receiving any major damage at least, and he couldn't see any physical wounds on her. She looked...familiar to the Blue Blur. Like someone he knew in his past...exactly like...

He gasped, as his heart clenched and he tugged her upper body close as tears forced their way into his eyes. Her head lolled lightly against his chest, and he had to take steadying breathes to calm down. Once that was accomplished, he used his communicator to signal Tails for a pick up, and after confirming his location he sat down with the woman's head in his lap.

He sighed, before something clicked in his mind that made him recheck her body again more thoroughly. He found it in seconds, the velvet green pouch and the absolutely glowing jewel inside. It had grown in size by a fraction, and pulsed as the excess energy chaotically running through its owners body was absorbed. It both relieved him and worried him.

Relieved him because it meant she would be safe, any wounds she would receive would heal faster than a normal humans, and worried for the dangers he felt was to come.

As Sonic's sensitive ears heard the approaching hum of the Tornado, he murmured quietly to Kharis' prone form as if he was lost in thought. "Chaos is power...Power enriched by the **_Heart_**..."

 _*Dreamscape, Kharis' P.O.V*_

 _I opened my eyes groggily to the familiar white expanse around me, feeling my head being cushioned on something soft and warm. Tilting my head slightly I locked gazes with furious red orbs that where diluted with worry. "Hey..Shadow..." I said with a smile, and a light groan as I felt him idly running his gloved fingers through my short hair._

 _"What in the hell did you do now, stupid woman?" He asked coldly, and I winced. "Um...tried to stop a bad man from getting a Chaos Emerald and hurting a child..." I replied weakly with a sigh. I couldn't...wouldn't lie to Shadow. Everything that's been happening since I got the concussion and let those Mobians live with me, I told to Shadow at night during our usual meetings. It was even more shocking when I found out that my Heart jewel came with me in these meetings, so I could show it to him along with the Chaos Emerald that came along as well. He always got quite when I mentioned the Chaos Emeralds though...I wonder why? He wouldn't tell me any way, and I didn't want to pry as he himself looked unsure._

 _Bracing myself the best I could, with my head in his lap and body to sore to move at the moment, I told him about the days happenings as he listened with undivided attention. I did however made sure to omit Dr. Robotnik's name, as the last time I mentioned it he nearly went crazy again when I told him about what the others told me._

 _I felt safe with him, happy even. Beneath his cold exterior and cruel demeanor, he was kind and patient and I began treasuring the moments I could get him to smile, or even laugh._

 _"You...are undoubtedly the most stupidly idiotic, and foolish human I have ever met..." He growled finally when I finished, just resting his hand on my head now. "Yes well...at least it's never boring?"_

 _"True indeed..." He said, giving his soft smirk. "Just...try not to be so reckless in the future?" He nearly begged. I had to laugh though, eyes just as sad. "I can make no promises, as I just follow where my heart leads me."_


	6. Meeting the Main Hedgehog

Sonic paced in the small room next to Chuck's lab. Back and forth and some times at such speeds that those around him had to scramble for a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. The woman had been checked over for injuries by Chuck and Tails, and was now tucked away in bed in a spare room next to Chuck's workshop. It had only been a month and a half since they arrived on this planet they called Earth, and had come to stay with the Thorndike family, but it was getting harder to hide the Mobians from Ella and Tanaka. Now they had to hide another in the garage like building in which Chuck worked.

No one could figure out why Sonic was so worried for the stranger, and he wouldn't answer them either. What ever it was, it was a big secret that only time would tell.

In the other room, Kharis finally began to move and awaken, rubbing her eyes gently as she stretched her sore muscles. She had gotten to talk to Shadow for quite a while, which must have meant she was also unconscious for a long time. He was pretty furious at her in the beginning, then dumbfounded when she wouldn't promise to not be reckless. She didn't think she wanted to take the time to count all the things he said about her in his little anger filled mutterings. But, it meant he cared in his own way, so she let it slide with a laugh.

As she got her bearings a bit more, she sat up and opened her eyes fully. She wished she hadn't the second she did so, as she found herself in a large room that she didn't recognize. She was scared, nervous and just down right terrified if she admitted it. The room may have looked nice, but the last thing she remembered of the waking world before finding herself with Shadow was her struggling against Dr. Robotnik...could he have kidnapped her? What happened to that child?! And the Chaos Emerald?!

Flinging herself from the silky sheets as quietly as she could, she stumbled before throwing her hands into her pockets desperately. "Oh please no...no no..NO!" She cried out frantically in a hoarse whimper, as she couldn't find the Diamond Heart any where on her person. Did he take it?! Did she lose it in the struggle? She felt cold, like a part of her was missing and in truth, it was.

 ** _She wasn't complete without her heart!_**

Apparently she hadn't been quiet enough, as soon she heard voices outside the door. She held her breathe, was Dr. Robotnik coming to get her to do...whatever it was he did with people who foiled his plans? She didn't have anything to defend her self with, so she glanced to the window in panic. She could try and escape, but she can't leave the Heart behind! The door opened, so the woman prepared for the worst...she didn't prepare for a tiny, rabbit like creature with big innocent eyes and long ears dressed in a red dress.

"Oh! Your awake, miss! That's great! I'm Cream, and this is my friend Cheese!" She said politely, and judging by her voice and tiny size...she couldn't have been older than 6-7 years old...Kharis wasn't as slow as people liked to make her feel, she could tell this child was a Mobian like Queen Aleena and her children, just a different species. I mean, how many talking anthropomorphic aliens could there be?

"I..I'm Kharis...please...could you tell me where I am?" The woman said lightly, her nerves still fractured and on guard though not as much with the child. She loved children after all and the little rabbit was just adorable along with the strange...flying blue creature she called Cheese. "Of course, Miss Kharis! We are at Mr. Thorndikes's house!" She answered happily, coming over to take Kharis' hand though she had to tip-toe to reach and the adult had to giggle, bending down slightly to accommodate Cream's tiny frame.

Kharis relaxed more, she recognized the Thorndike name. Even she wasn't living so far under a rock to not know who the wealthiest people in Station Square was! But...how did she get here? She pondered such questions as the little girl led her out of the room, chattering away yet still being very polite. She was right in her guess about the girl's age, as she was 6 years old, and apparently Cheese was a creature called a Chao...which made sense, as it could only say 'Chao chao' when it talked. It reminded her of a Pokemon, honestly.

It wasn't till they finally made it to the other room that she froze. On a chair was an elderly man with a lab coat and the child she had helped against Doctor Robotnik. That's where the human company ended, as the other inhabitants was the blue hedgehog himself, Sonic. A pink hedgehog in a red dress, and a small fox kit with yellow fur and two tails.

"Glad to see your awake, how are you feeling?" The old man said, standing and offering her a seat. "Um...Okay I guess...though...why am I here...exactly?" Kharis asked after all the introductions were made.

"You helped me, and I didn't like the thought of you staying in the hands of Dr. Eggman. I asked Sonic to help you and he brought you back here." Chris said cheerily.

"You had a strange power reading on you, so we took what was causing it and quarantined it for further study, to see if it was what caused the flash of light Sonic saw." Said the tiny fox sitting on the cushion across from her. Amy was next to him and Cream sat on his other side with Cheese in her lap.

Kharis froze, finally catching word about the gem she desperately sought.

"About that...can I have that back please? It's very important to me..." she asked quietly as the room stilled at her question. "But it's a strange power gem we haven't seen before! It could be dangerous! And that means Dr. Eggman might come for it!" Uncle Chuck exclaimed. "Forget Dr. Robotnik! That Heart is mine! Please return it to me!" Kharis said, fearfully. She couldn't fight if they refused to give it back. Especially the children...If Cream or Tails tried to stop her she wouldn't be able to get away if they joined in.

They were confused as well, wondering why she referred to him as Dr. Robotnik instead of Eggman, in fact it seemed she already knew about him! Everyone could see the fear shining in her eyes now, but her face was determined. "...I'll get it for you, then. If it's that important." Sonic said at last, having just been watching the proceedings from his spot on the windowsill. He could see her 'fight or flight' need growing with every nervous twitch and glance, and he didn't like it. With Chuck's help, Sonic came back into the room carrying the jewel carefully

They had kept it in the lab under a heavy containment that required both an eye scan, fingerprint, password, and Sonic's super speed to open. It had been designed by Tails as the energy readings from the angrily glowing Diamond Heart were chaotic and almost harmful. Sonic was lucky that Chuck was able to get him a new pair of gloves as the ones he had on before had disintegrated the moment the jewel was taken more than 5 feet from the woman when she was unconscious.

The moment she laid eyes on it, Kharis was out of her seat and gently reaching for it faster than they thought possible for one in her condition. Once her delicate fingers enclosed and clasped the jewel in her hands, it shone brightly for a few seconds before fading.

Kharis' complexion was visibly better now as well, as she seemed almost healthier and more alive now that she was reunited with the Heart. She had a bright, content smile and her eyes shined happily as she held the gem to her chest. "Thank you..." She murmured gratefully.

She could tell quickly that it was bigger than before, and it seemed as if it was...more powerful as well. Definitely something to discuss with Manic and the others for sure. Now that she thought about it...she recalled that Queen Aleena had said that Sonic was her child as well, making the twins really a group of triplets. If she recalled correctly, the Queen said that Sonic had gotten separated during a huge explosion a few years back and that they hadn't seen or heard from him till now...

"H-Hey...Sonic..? What do you...know of your family..?" She asked lightly, once things seemed to have settled down once more. Sonic flailed at the unexpected question, falling off the windowsill that he had once more perched on. "D-Dead I think...why?" He asked, before growling and turning away, upset that he had just openly admitted that to her. Amy and Tails had assumed his family was dead, and he thought so too when he couldn't find a trace of them.

Kharis nodded, letting the subject drop as conversation eventually picked up once again. Tails was highly eager to run some myriad of tests along with Chuck when she told them how the Heart was formed. She...hesitantly promised to let him run whatever tests he wanted, but right now she was being overwhelmed.

Another hour later, Kharis was opening the door to her abandoned car, thanking every Greek Deity she could that it hadn't been jacked. It was almost midnight when she got home and was greeted with the frantic words and hugs from the royal family. After a quick update, a light bit of reheated dinner and a bath, Kharis found herself sitting quietly on her bed in her attire she had on that very first night...

In her left hand was the Chaos Emerald, and in her right was the Heart. She felt guilty, having told them she had lost the Chaos Emerald a while back after the Heart had first formed, but she needed time to think of a plan to help reunite the royal family.

With that thought she did a bit of meditation, grinning softly when she could make out Sonia in the other room gushing over her new clothes and beauty care items to her family. She would see Shadow again soon, and hoped to share with him everything that had transpired if he cared to listen.

The Heart was glowing, soft and warm in her grasp as it was given more energy and power from the Emerald gradually. If this was a video game, it would be officially in stage 2 of development, not that anyone was aware of that at the time.


	7. The Reasons Why

The storm raged on outside, shaking the walls of Kharis' apartment with such ferocity that its occupants feared that the windows would shatter from its force. Kharis herself sat on her couch dressed in her comfiest fleece pajamas, with Queen Aleena and Sonia on the love-seat and Manic curled against the humans side.

Albiet, the items had been bought mostly in the children's section, but now the royal family was dressed in their own fleece pajamas. Queen Aleena was in a deep purple fleece gown that tied high around the waist, the length fluttering to the floor in elegant waves as it clung gently to the woman's body. Sonia wore a pink version of the one her mother wore, though smaller to fit her more youthful body and had a few more layers of lace around the collar and edges. Manic was the easiest, though strangest as all he wanted was sleep pants, and was adorned currently in a pair of black fleece pajama pants that flame designs on the bottom.

Currently the small group was binge watching Kharis' favorite childhood anime, Sailor Moon. Against her chest she held the Daimond Heart protectively with one hand, and the other wrapped loosely around Manic as he leaned against her side.

Queen Aleena was likewise holding her daughter against her body securely, stroking the child's hair as she watched the characters on screen. At one particular episode the Queen watched in curiosity as her human companion had slight changes in her demeanor. The Queen noted how the young woman's back got straighter as she lightly leaned in more to the show, and how her eyes lit up with wonder and a silent yearning the Queen couldn't quite place...until she looked back at the screen. The Moon Princess had just been revealed, along with the Legendary Silver Crystal.

It clicked immediately, with Aleena's mind and wit as quick and as sharp as her son, Sonic's. Once all the episodes were finished on the current disk, Queen Aleena voiced her curiosity. "Kharis...have you ever...wished to be like that woman? Like Sailor Moon?" It caught the woman off guard, and she stuttered as a fierce blush overtook her face. "W-Wha..?!"

Queen Aleena giggled lightly, as her beloved children looked on curiously. "The resemblance from your...current situation to aspects of this show and its heroine are quite few, but they are there. Namely, your Heart and its strange pulse of energy..." Kharis flinched back slightly, but couldn't deny the similarities herself.

"My guess is,...you've watched this show...these particular episodes so often that they became engraved into your subconscious. The chaos emerald must have felt that and used it as a basis for the creation of the Heart. It went with what you were comfortable with the most, what you could connect with the easiest. Though why it reacted in such a way is odd in itself...Chaos Emeralds aren't known for reacting with humans usually, at all really."

That time it was Sonia, catching on to what her mother was saying. Kharis stood, shakily smiling with a 'That's so..?" weakly coming out. She had dealt with people belittling her likes before, and she could see the reasoning behind both the reason why and what the two hedgehog ladies were saying. It was a sore subject to touch upon though, it wasn't often she meet people who were so kind and understanding about it like they were being.

So it was her fault that this really had happened..? Because of her childhood passions, she had somehow given birth to what seemed to be a gem of power that was unknown to be who knows just how powerful and the chaos emerald had made it reality..?

Before her paranoid and imaginative thoughts could spiral any more out of control, Queen Aleena spoke up once more as the human woman pittered around the room, putting the disk back in its case and straightening up a little. Her words caused the young woman to gasp, and drop the item she was holding. The book fell with a heavy thud at the same moment lightning struck outside. "Would you like to close that gap difference, and become a princess as well? Not those silly, prim and snooty ones of course."

Manic laughed at what his mother said at the end, winking at Sonia who humphed. The green drummer boy jumped up to steady the human woman when she swayed though, helping her sit back down. "Y-your joking...right? Why...would you waste your time on something like that for someone like me?" Kharis asked, gripping the heart once more so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. "Because it's never a waste to do what you want to do most." The Queen said simply, brooking no more argument from the other adult with her tone. Outside, the thunder rolled as the winds howled more ominously, setting the mood for the next event that night.

The power was out an hour after Queen Aleena had made her decision to train Kharis in the ways of royalty, along with planning a special surprise of her own.

Now all four were sitting in a circle, candles lit in the small living room as everyone huddled together with pillows and blankets, planning to camp out together in the small space for the night. Once everyone was settled, Kharis asked a question that had been plaguing her mind.

How did the royal family get separated after finally reuniting?

Queen Aleena was startled by the sudden curiosity, as Sonia curled up with Manic as tears twinkled in her eyes from the candlelight. "Well...let me start from the beginning..." The Queen said carefully, as she looked at her children in despair.

" _Back before Robotnik had taken over our beautiful kingdom, I had just been crowned Queen with my husband, Jules. We were happy for a time, and we never knew of the terrible betrayal that awaited us. You see...Robotnik...used to be an Ambassador for the humans who lived on another continent, closed off from the rest of Mobius. They were a peaceful sort then, and recognized our family as the rulers of our great planet at the time. It is still unknown if they had helped that madman with the initial attack. He was known as Julian Kintobor back then, but changed it to Robotnik when he begun his take over._

 _We lost all communications with the rest of the humans after that, and neither Robotnik nor the Resistance could locate a trace of them._

 _As for Jules and I, we took shelter in the hidden city of Mobodoon along with as many of our people as we could save along the way. It wasn't long after that, that we learned I was pregnant and was then banned from joining the small scouting teams that had formed to try and save more of our people before they were captured and robotisized. Just before I gave birth...I lost Jules...he had gone with the main group as usual, but only one member came back. Amadeus Prower, one of our trusted generals had dragged his battered body back to us with the grave news. The team had been led into an ambush by a wolf named Sleet, and had been separated. What he could gather, the others had been captured and either killed or robotisized. He perished not long after, his wounds to great for our supplies and resources too handle._

 _A few months later, my babies were born. Bright and beautiful, they were beacons of hope for our people once more in our dark times. Our peace didn't last though, before they were even 2 years old, I had gone to the Oracle, hoping for good news and some guidance about my husband and our fates. There, I learned of the prophecy, and I had to give up my little ones or risk their lives and all our fates._

 _For my only baby girl, I left her with the aristocrat, Lady Wyndamer. She had been my friend since childhood, and due to a medical condition was unable to have children of her own. She had always spoke of wanting to be a caretaker and private tutor to any child of mine. So felt her the best choice for my little princess._

 _For Sonic, who was already showing signs early on of his speed, I left him in the care of a small woodcutter family who had often done business with our family and had been caretakers of the forest in which they lived. They were recommended by my brother-in-law, Sir Charles, so I knew I could trust them with my speedy little boy._

 _But my youngest, Manic, I was torn. He was my only baby left, and I was torn between keeping him with me or giving him away to be raised by another. In my despair and fear of the prophecy, I left him on the doorstep of another I had known before the take over, a wonderfully kind woman named Amane who had been our maid. But after I had knocked on the door and gone to hide, a rat came and snatched away the basket holding him. She never knew he was even there, opening the door to look then quickly hiding away again herself._

 _I followed him, terrified for my baby's life as he went into the growing slums of the city. When he offered the basket to his boss, a well known and master thief named Ferrel, I planned to show myself. But he surprised me, instead of being angry that the rat hadn't brought back food or weaponry, but instead a little green hoglet, he showed kindness and swore he would raise my little boy to the best of his abilities!_

 _I meet with him secretly afterwards, as I did with all the foster parents the best I could to keep updated on my children. I swore them to secrecy, so Robotnik would not find out about the children before they were ready. I stayed in Mobodoon in only brief, short visits to rest, and the rest of the time I worked with the growing Resistance-the Freedom Fighters as they came to be known- to thwart Robotnik the best we could and kept his attention preoccupied._

 _I also trained myself in the Mystical Arts with the Oracle, which proved most useful as women have a natural ability for magic, more so with those of the Royal Family. For years I kept watch over my babies, with only the promise of one day being reunited with them to keep me company throughout the long nights. I could barely withhold my joy when they met up again when they were 10 years old, and I kept a far closer eye on them to protect them as they begun to fight the tyrant more aggressively. At times I had to step in, to help them or to leave them clues to where they were needed the most to help save as many of our people as we could._

 _It was a few days after they had their...little virtual mishap that the Oracle finally gave me the ok for us to reunite, as the Three pointed Diamond constellation re-emerged in our night skies. I had no hesitation, going to the secret hideout they had been stationed at the time in the dead of night and snuck myself in. They slept so soundly, that I was against waking them up. So I left special little gifts in their room and went to the little kitchenette they had._

 _Imagine their surprise when they woke up to find presents in their room signed from their mother, only to find me cooking breakfast for them in the kitchen!_

 _Sonia had gotten her very own tiara, crafted in Mobodoon by the best artisans we had left. Sonic got new shoes with special wear-and-tear resistant materials with pure gold buckles on the sides, and Manic had received a new set of gloves that had nanotechnology built into the threads, curtesy of Cyrus._

 _To say it was a tearful reunion was an understatement, and we chose to spend the next week together to catch up. No missions, no fighting Swatbots or those fools, Sleet and Dingo. So we went to the Floating Island after checking in with the rest of the Freedom Fighters._

 _We never even realized it was a trap._

 _The first few days were wonderful, and we had made a new, very precious friend up there as well, one who was stranded in our time-line far from her own. Turns out the children had met her a month before when she had first arrived, so little introductions were needed. She was part of the family in all but blood and she had a mysterious power all her was this power that Robotnik was gunning for._

 _He wasted no expense when he invaded the island, using every evil he had in his power. We all thought we were going to die! Manic was already unconscious with a terrible wound on his side, Sonia laid unmoving beside him, missing both her left arm and leg from a bomb Sleet had thrown at her. We had fought so hard, but the sheer amount of robots and Robotisized Mobians he used overwhelmed us. We couldn't attack the Mobians, as that man had used their foster families against us. I too was barely standing, weakened and distraught over the state of my children. Had the Oracle made a mistake? Had we reunited to early and this was the punishment?_

 _I remember being captured, held harshly in the hands of Swatbots as they broke my arm. Knuckles and Sonic had been thrown from the island afterwards, and as the last of my children fell I broke down, giving up all hope...then she came out._

 _She wasn't a fighter, so we had forced her to hide in a cave and locked her in there for her own safety since she had control of the power Robotnik coveted. I don't know how she had managed to escape, but it's thanks to her we are alive and in one piece. Using the source of her power, she unleashed a source of light that blinded everyone, turning everything a luminous white._

 _I could barely make out her silhouette as she stood before me, and I could see the toll such a force was taking on her body. I screamed for her to stop...there was no sense in her perishing with us. But...all she did was smile, and to this day the look on her faces haunts my dreams. She had smiled, her eyes watery though not a tear had fallen as I could see her body beginning to dissolve. She stood so tall, so strong, unwavering as the light grew brighter. She said only five words to me before I finally blacked out._

 _When I came to, I found myself being shaken by Manic. When I sat up I saw he was alive and well, no traces of the fatal gash on his side other than his torn vest. Next to him was Sonia, whole and in one piece like her brother with only the destroyed clothing testament of the bombs explosion. Sobbing I held my babies close to me, stroking their ruffled fur as they cried against my chest. Further away we found Knuckles, alive and well though he seemed as distraught as we were not to find Sonic. He told us he had managed to dig into the side of the island with his great strength, but Sonic had been thrown to far away for him to catch and he had been forced to watch the hedgehog fall before the light engulfed him as well._

 _We had thought him dead, and grieved for days unaware of the other many changes that had taken place on our fair planet. Later on we had been reunited with the Sir Charles and the others, who had been derobotisized to our great shock. We immediately returned back to the surface, hoping we would find Sonic somewhere alive and well, as well as our dear friend who had saved us...but I knew she was dead without a doubt...I just couldn't bring myself to tell Sonia and Manic at the time for fear they would lose hope for Sonic's survival. But it seems both he and Robotnik had disappeared, and Robotrobolis was destroyed._

 _We found Sleet and Dingo's bodies underneath the mountains of rubble, broken and ripped apart, well...what wasn't completely crushed at least...and all the other Mobians who had been captured, derobotisized as well._

 _The next two years we spent working on rebuilding our kingdom, with our spare time spent looking for any signs of Sonic. The Royal guard was recreated and near the end we had begun to finally loose hope that my baby boy was alive...until the Oracle came to us with news._

 _Sonic was alive and well, and faster than ever! But...he didn't show any signs if he remembered us, and he no longer had his royal medallion. Comforted by the fact he was at least alive, we planned to reunite with him...but our people needed us the most at the time, so we just kept an eye on him, despite my children's wish to be with their brother once more._

 _He had found and kept in touch with Knuckles though, who watched over my little boy as he watched over the newly renamed Angel Island and the Master Emerald. I guess he felt it was his duty to, since he couldn't save Sonic before..._

 _A few more years passed, and I watched as my son kept on saving people when Dr. Robotnik returned. He was growing into a handsome young man with his long blue quills as sharp as needles and those wonderful green eyes, so much like his fathers. Then one day, there was another bright light when we were on our way to confront him, the separation taking its toll on us finally. We found ourselves here, alone and stranded..."_

"...and you can guess the rest from there." The Queen said finally, quietly sobbing as she held her two babies close. Kharis was beside herself, crying silently along with the Royal family. "D-Did you ever learn anything about your husband?" She asked quietly, and the Queen sniffles as she shook her head. "No, I can only assume Robotnik had him executed...I never found him amongst the derobotisized..."

As the night wore on and the others fell asleep, Kharis laid awake as her mind spun.

How could she reunite the Royal family?

As sleep finally overtook her weary mind, she smiled slightly as her mind wandered to the black hedgehog alone in the white space, she was eager to see him after such a tragic story. He always knew how to cheer her up, even if he didn't know how he did it.


	8. What they don't know

The Royal family sat outside in a long hallway, decorated simply yet expensively with the dark cobalt carpeting and oak wood chairs. Sonia was ringing her hands together in worry, as her brother kept a close eye on the three trained men in suits that were in turn watching the family.

The day had started normally, with Kharis leaving that morning to return to work at the school finally after her mandatory leave had officially ended. Half an hour later...a whole team of similar dressed men had burst into the small apartment unannounced and dragged all three hedgehogs into a black van.

After what felt like an eternity of being held captive, occasionally at gunpoint when Manic made attempts to escape, they found themselves ushered into a large building and was ordered to wait in a large spacious room until their boss was ready to see them. When asked about the situation the only answer they got out of their captors in black was that the man they were being forced into meeting was infact...

...the...President...!?

Queen Aleena was worried, though it seemed the men were not planning to actually hurt her or her children it seemed. She was the first to stand when the door opened and they were all led inside by a calm yet elderly mans voice beckoning them from within.

The president, a gray haired elder who was decently plump for his age smiled kindly at the trio as they entered, ordering for privacy once they were sitting. "I'm sorry for the way our agents treated you, but it was imperative to get in touch with a new set of unknown Mobians sited inside Station Square."

"Well, you could have...oh I don't know, came and asked us instead of breaking down the door, ransacking our current home and taking us against our will!" Manic said angrily, though winced when his mother shot him a fierce look and the presidents frown deepened.

"Though the words could have been worded better, my son does have a point, Mr. President. Your men were not diplomatic nor kind and destroyed a great deal, though the fault is ours as well in that front as we fought back against them. We can only thank the heavens that there were no other residents living in the apartments next to us that could have been harmed in the ordeal. As well as your men should be thankful that we held back, not wanting to harm anyone else in this world in acts of confusion.""

The queen spoke smoothly, though the chill in her words was tangible enough that the president shivered in her presence. He was a powerful man, being the President of the United Nations, but in her presence he felt once more like the awkward teen on the first day of school. "Y-yes well...There...will be a suitable compensation for the damages done, I assure you." He said, straightening his tie.

-•-•-

The president was sure nothing else would startle him as he questioned the trio in front of him, but there was a cold sweat breaking out once the Queen informed him of her and her children's positions back on their home planet. Then the little fact that Station Squares growing hero was her son...!

He immediately began apologizing again for their recent ordeal, and Sonia was beside her self in a giggle fit as the man was just so openly honest about his intentions as neither she nor Manic could sense anything two-faced about him.

He wasn't doing it to try and secure his position for the next elections, but was honestly upset that he had wronged them and for how they had been treated so far.

Sonia and Manic were amazed by the skill in diplomatic talks their mother held as well, as by the end of the day, the President had secured the Queen- and thusly themselves and Sonic- as allies of the U. return the Royal family and Kharis had been given an all expenses paid brand new home to stay until the Mobians could go home! Best part was, the home itself was a sprawling mansion that was also going to be fully staffed!

They were given pictures of the home to look over, in case any changes needed to be made to accommodate the Royal family while it was being fixed up. The only reason it was able to be offered though it seemed is because the home was on the very outskirts of the city, a few miles into a sprawling forestry to the north.

It had been abandoned almost a century ago, with vines covering the white stone walls, sprawling gardens left unattended, the roof high reaching but in need of repair. At the steps, about 50 in number, and framing the entrance way were four Greek styled pillars.

The two on the inside closest to the frosted glass rose doors were white marble in the Ionic style, while the two on the outside beside those had been designed in the Corinthian style. It had large iron gates at the entrance onto the the property, rusted and broken down and covered in roses and prickly vines covered in thorns...

"Well...it has potential!" Sonia chirped happily from the few photos they had from the outside. Her comment made her brother cringe, remembering the ghastly castle they visited years back where she said the same thing.

That was going to shock their human friend quite a bit, as Queen Aleena refused any compensation the President offered if Kharis wasn't included. Even though it was just for a short time that they had been together, the trio agreed that they wouldn't leave the young woman alone as the memories haunted their minds. Plus, she needed support and a family, and the Mobians were more than eager to be that for her.

As they were escorted to a temporary hotel that the group would stay in as the house was fixed, Queen Aleena was thoroughly examining papers that the Vice President had given her at the end of their visit. It was a peace treaty as well as an alliance offer with all the details in full.

Queen Aleena may have had the proper trust set for the President himself, but there was something off with the Vice President and she didn't want her children in any danger by the man.

She couldn't let him taint Kharis' heart either.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-

Kharis felt bad for her little white lie as she drove on down the gravel road. She wasn't scheduled back to work till tomorrow, but told Queen Aleena and her children it was today.

She truly felt remorseful for the action, but it had to be done. She had to get rid of the Chaos Emerald in her possession. Plus, it went with a plan she had been secretly working on as well for the last few days.

She had to get the Royal family back together, if it was the last thing she ever did.

The old white Chevy cavalier car stuttered and whined as she slowed to a stop, the large walls of the Diamond Baseball field standing a few dozen feet away. It was set to be demolished soon, and the grounds Caretaker was a dear friend she had made back when she was waiting tables as a teenager, trying to pay her way through college.

Walking on the grand field always brought with it a sense of excitement, with the years of energy from the hundreds of games played there seeped deeply into the stands and the green turf of the playing field.

Kharis was never much of a sports fan, though she enjoyed dodgeball, tennis, and badminton growing up. Still though, she did have a healthy respect towards the game of baseball as well.

It was here, if the caretaker allowed, that she wanted to reunite the Mobian royal family. By planting the Chaos Emerald here, she knew Sonic and his group would locate it and come there...and then...she could reunite the family at last.

"There you are, Kharis! I haven't seen you in months!" The kind man said, greeting her as he came out onto the grounds, interrupting her inner thoughts.

"Hello Mr. Robinson! It's great to see you again!" She replied, giving the elder a hug. They were good friends and he often acted like a grandpa towards her, although their ages weren't quiet right for that.

"So what brings you all the way out here, my dear? Something troubling you?" He asked, a knowing gaze shimmering in his wise eyes.

Briefly, Kharis brought him up to date with the current events happening around her, going so far as to show him the Chaos Emerald and the Heart. They even thought up a cover story about him just finding the emerald on the grounds instead of being asked to hold it.

They spent hours just talking and enjoying each other's company, as he didn't get very many visitors with his children out of state. It was later in the afternoon when he had a peculiar request for Kharis after listening to hers about reuniting the family.

"Would you mind singing for me, Kharis?" He asked, leaning on a cold metal seat up in one of the stands they had retired to after walking around for a bit.

She tried to convince him otherwise, her singing was horrible! He wouldn't budge though, and she grumbled as she stood up, being bribed by thoughts of reuniting the family and an Orange Xtreme slush he would buy for her.

Clearing her throat as she adjusted herself, she forced herself to calm down.

She focused, clearing her mind as she listened to the world around her, the bussing of insects, twittering birds and the rush of the cool north winds. She took a deep breathe as she closed her eyes, clutched the Heart to her chest and raised her voice in song.

" _High up in the mountains, sang the lonely souls_

 _From the peaks down to the oceans,_

 _Where can we call home?_

 _The boy sang a low melody_

 _The girl sang a saddened song_

 _The birds chirped the beat and the mountain rhythms on._

 _The forest held the memories, of all that had passed_

 _Inside the diamonds sleeping_

 _Awaken it at last!_

 _Cling on to_

 _that last light of hope._

 _Hold on to your heart, don't ever let it go!_

 _For as we sing up in the mountains_

 _We are not alone._

 _From the peaks to the oceans_

 _We have found our home..."_


	9. What Happened to my life?

Kharis blinked...and blinked...She sat there blinking in confusion as Sonia and Manic recounted their day to the young woman later that evening. Kharis had returned to her home only to be met with a few Secret Service men awaiting her and her home barren and destroyed.

She had been terrified at first, thinking they were there to hurt her and had done something with the royal family. She had given them a good run for their money, dashing down the streets of the small neighborhood before they could react.

Once caught and brought to the hotel however-with the men a bit more battered and bruised with her thrashing and bites- she was reunited with the others and had been promptly ordered to sit so they could explain.

"We're sorry Kharis...we were able to savage pretty much everything from the home but a lot of things had been broken or left behind..." Sonia said, the pretty pink hedgehog started when she saw Kharis sitting there quietly, a few tears dripping down her face...

...Only to be surprised when Kharis lunged, gathering the trio into her arms the best she could and beginning to sob. "I was...so scared...! I didn't know if you were safe or what happened at all when I saw those men! Thank goodness your ok...thank the goddesses..." The 23 year old woman cried, and the Mobians tightened their own arms around her and each other as well. They were safe for now, safe and together again.

And they had a lot more to discuss.

The hotel they were in was the nicest in all of Station Square, right in the heart of the city. ' _ **Ange en Blanc**_ ' if Kharis recalled correctly, it meant Angel in White in French. It was a 7 story, 5 star establishment with high standards and reviews from many celebrities from around the world who passed through.

Safe to say poor Kharis felt very out of place in the Presidential Suite her and the others were in, much like poor Manic who kept twitching nervously every now and then.

On the table in the spacious living room, which was made of textured glass in between an expensive white leather couch and plasma tv bigger than said couch...Laid an abundance of books on home designs and architecture. There were also fashion magazines mixed in that Sonia wasted no time in retrieving.

Kharis assumed they were there so the Mobians could pick out designs and structures for the new house they received. Kharis didn't feel at all comfortable getting to live there as well, feeling like she was just an expendable item in the Governments eyes.

It had taken the gentle prodding from the Queen to get her to even agree to live there with them in the first place, and the family included her when picking out furniture and room designs.

Stationed outside their door were two of the secret service men, to whom they would give the books for the home with the marked pages and notebook in which they had written special requests. The men also brought in their dinner as the kitchen had not yet be stocked up from their short notice.

"Oh this is all just to much...and it's barely 6 pm!" Kharis moaned quietly as her head spun.

"Yes, well...the night is still young, my dear. Tonight we have a few more preparations to do before bed and I wish to start your lessons tonight as well, so once you've eaten your fill, please retire to the bath." Queen Aleena informed as she elegantly ate the provided 4 course meal with ease.

Kharis had been sitting ram rod straight through the whole meal, feeling ashamed and embarrassed to be eating with the Royal family now. Sonia's table etiquette was elegant and dainty, Manic's a bit rougher and relaxed though still refined.

The queen though, hers almost made Kharis's head spin. She made barely a sound, still kept up easy conversation and just oozed Royal elegance and refinement that Kharis barely believed she was just eating! It hadn't been like this in her little apartment, they had seemed far more relaxed during their little meals together. She supposed it had something to do with their surroundings and the days happenings.

Still, she didn't feel so out of place if she thought about it objectively; she knew the basics of table etiquette from what she had done in self study, and watching them helped her pick up the flow decently enough.

As per the Queens orders, Kharis retired to the bath once the meal had ended. This left Aleena and Sonia to giggle quietly as they quickly opened up the books on fashion and the books of the Royal families from around the world they were in. Manic had to roll his eyes lovingly at his mother and sister, as they designated him the jewelry expert and thusly gave him a few magazines as well specific to the glittering gems.

"We can finally get some new clothes! And surprise Kharis as well!" Sonia giggled, her bright cerulean eyes shining in girlish delight. "She will need them after all, and it's the least we could do for all the trouble that has come to her from our arrival." Aleena agreed, flipping through a book that showed the timeline from Ancient Greece to Modern England on Royal family garb.

"I just wished she had more self-confidence in her self, ya know? I mean yeah, she seems confident at first, but then she just so openly talks about her faults and everything that's wrong with her with little prodding. I know she doesn't ever really talk about what really bothers her, but it seems she gets worse every time she begins to list her faults.."

Manic pitched in, his solemn voice ringing out and quieting the two women before him. His mother nodded as his sister frowned. "Well, yes, that's true. It isn't really clear on how she is the way she is. She told us about growing up, with elderly parents and everything. To others she would seem quite blessed and shouldn't have any complaints." Aleena agreed

"But that doesn't mean anything when it comes to a persons heart. She told us about having very little friends who stuck around, all the pressure with living with elderly parents and their high expectations of her. She knows it's wrong how she is, so all the blame she puts in herself. She's convinced deep down that she's damaged goods!"

Sonia spoke up in Kharis defense, able to connect a little as well. She always felt like she was unneeded in the war against Dr. Robotnik, and in the band as well. She was raised in refinement by the nobles, and it took her the longest to get to the point where she could fight without her keyboard/laser.

Sonia also knew deep down how her actions and words often hurt her brothers when she ridiculed them or insulted them but it was just who she was! Plus she was the weakest link, always getting them in trouble or getting captured in a trap.

So for Sonia, she could relate the most to Kharis knowing it was all the little things that led to such an unwanted personality characteristic.

Aleena hugged her daughter, able to sense the oncoming tears the little pinkette was trying to hide, and could see the similar flash of emotions in Manic's eyes as well. "That's why we are going to help her, my sweet ones. Just like we helped each other."

Aleena cooed quietly, making the twins smile. "Now, we need to get to work, we need a whole new wardrobe for her and for us." The queen stated with a wink, hustling them back to the task at hand. They needed to be done before Kharis got out of the bath!

-With Kharis-

Kharis sat there, soaking in the large jacuzzi tub. She felt bad being the first one in the bath, but she wasn't going to argue with a Queen of an entire planet who was also buddies with the President of Kharis' whole friggin country!

Plus, she admitted that she had always wanted to take a bath like this. They had retrieved her bathing supplies from the home as well as the Mobians, but had upgraded them and added to it!

The hot water relaxed her muscles and the jets were set on high, beating out every bit of tension in her until she felt like a satisfied rag doll. The water was mixed in with specialized Beauty Milk as well, giving it a sweet scent and softening her skin to a smooth texture.

There was a ledge that was part of the tub, where she was able to sit easily without splashing water everywhere and wash her body. The smell of "Love and Sunshine" scented body scrub was always enough to perk her mood right up with its fresh and fruity scent mixed with citrus. It also made it easy to shave her body as well, which she spent a good long time on to make sure every bit was smooth as silk with the high grade razor they had switched her cheap one out for.

Nipping always at the back of her mind though were despairing thoughts. Kharis shouldn't be the one enjoying this kind of high class bath. A real beauty of a woman should! One with long luscious hair, petite and feminine body with real curves and immaculate skin. A real princess like that.

Not a woman with an average body, a mid-size bone structure, no curves and short frizzy hair. People have said she was pretty before, despite her not so white teeth that were large both in the front and in their over bite. Or her acne that never wanted to disappear despite what products she used, and she was never one for make-up. It made her wonder what other lies had been fed to her half heartedly...

Shaking the thoughts away harshly, Kharis snapped herself out of it. She was going to enjoy this fairytale like dream as long as it lasted, and she would be grateful for it!

Nodding to herself, she grabbed her shampoo and conditioner. She tended to change up her Shampoo and conditioner often, trying to find the one that worked best on her hair. Right now she was on one she thought she may just stick with.

It's was Regis Designline-Enchanted Midnight for color luxury. It worked with natural or colored hair, it didn't matter. She really liked it for its exotic smell that still seemed sweet...and the fact that on the back in its description it said, "Fortified with South Sea pearls, black diamonds and black sapphires..."

She wasn't kidding, that's what it really said and for over 20$ per individual bottle she could believe it to a degree. Plus it wasn't tested on animals so it was even better in her opinion.

So as it was that she didn't emerge from the bath for an hour and a half, clad only in a thick and fluffy white towel. Her skin was smooth and shiny thanks to her vigorous scrubbing and gleamed a rosy pink from the waters high temperatures. Scuttling to her room in embarrassment for forgetting a change of clothes, she was glad to see they paid no attention to her.

She saw all three Mobians looking intensely through some of the magazines and catalogs, though from her distance she couldn't see what held them so intensively. Entering into the guest room of the suite-having at least won the argument that they should have the master bedroom-she drew up short once the door closed.

The room could have fit her entire apartment in it, it seems. The walls were a light beige and there was a thick black carpet which offset the red oak cabinets, vanity and canopy curtains covering the large windows that had the best view of the Center of Station Square were a sheer white color, whispy and light in material. All in all, it was hands down the nicest room she had ever been in, though the lack in color variety and wide empty space made it feel cold and unwelcoming.

Laying spread out awaiting her was a set of undergarments, made from a soft, stretchy and silky fabric in a deep emerald green tone. They had white lace on the sides and the front on the band it had a pretty light pink silk bow. Blushing heavily when she realized it was obviously set for her by either Sonia or the Queen.

The nightgown itself was made of a silk like fabric and was a pale teal green in color. It reminded her of the clothes worn back on the Renaissance era, with the empire styled top/bodice and long sweeping length that caressed the floor elegantly.

She had found it in a thrift store a few years ago and it was hands down her favorite. The nightgown itself was thin and light, almost see through. But it was the robe she wore with it religiously that she adored the same color and fabric as the night gown, it was nice and heavy with a multiple layered bottom that flared out from where it tied right beneath her bust. It reminded her of the simple gowns the nobility would wear.

Putting on the familiar garments made her feel comfortable and happy, loving the feel on her freshly cleaned body and smooth form. Sitting down on the almost over cushiony bed, feeling like she sank down a good few inches in doing so, she applied her body lotions.

Taking her time to apply them evenly, Kharis' mind wandered back to Shadow as it often did now a days. She wondered...would he be able to smell these scents in their nightly meetings. Probably not, that was to much to hope for...

Wait...hope for? Just what was it she was hoping...Shaking her head to rid herself of the dangerous thoughts, she finished up and rejoined the family in the spacious living room after donning her robe.

-•-•-•-•-

"Sounds like you've been busy..." Shadow said, standing beside Kharis as she sat on the familiar floor of the white expanse.

"Like you wouldn't believe..." Kharis groaned, her body sore even in her dreams. Queen Aleena had ran her through drill after drill on poise and posture, both for sitting, standing, and walking.

It was enough to make her pass out once her head had hit the pillow.

She had fallen asleep with her robe on, thankfully, not wanting to appear in such a sheer nightgown in the presence of Shadow. He had even complimented her on it too! That had nearly stopped her heart then and there, not expecting such a thing from the usually stoic hedgehog.

Shadow stood there, staring at her with critical Ruby eyes. He had felt a deep, burning anger when she told him about the men chasing her and the destruction of her home. He couldn't describe it, much like he couldn't help the words that flowed from scowling lips when she was injured before.

It felt similar to the protective nature he held for Maria, but different. It had become natural for her to come now, for him to listen to her tales from her waking hours. He had come to treasure those times with her, as it made him realize just how lonely he was when she was gone. Though he would never admit such a thing.

Though he wouldn't hesitate to tell anyone he wanted to throttle her a few good times too; this woman was both immensely adorable and extremely annoying at the same time. How hard was it for her to stay out of trouble?!

And he had definitely noticed her scent, an intoxicating mix of scents he had never before met was wafting with a soft gentleness that struck faster than a bullet. How intoxicating would her smell be in reality, outside this white expanse?

"Hey.." He said, stopping whatever chittering she was doing, making him smile mentally as she looked at him with her expressive Hazel green eyes."You said you sang for that man...will you sing for me?"

He held back a chuckle as her face became as red as the streaks on his pristine fur, as her mouth gapped open and she stumbled over a reply before finally giving up.

"Fiiine..." She grumbled in defeat, her pink lips pursed in a pout.

 _"There's a story no cares to know_

 _Stuck in time like a kaleidoscope._

 _Star crossed lovers bound by the chains of fate._

 _Better hurry or you'll be to late._

 _Her screams will echo up to the stars above,_

 _He calls her name but she can't respond._

 _The Heart, it strains under the crushing pain_

 _Clouded Darkness before the light of day..."_

A disturbing feeling settled itself inside Shadow's chest as he heard her sing. Her voice may not have been the best, but it was both emotional and real and he couldn't look away.

Her song was haunting and foreboding, and her eyes were half closed in almost a saddened, dreamy expression. He notice that the Heart, which had become an expected companion to the human, was glowing as well.

He knew things were about to change drastically soon, but he didn't know if it would be for the better...or for the worse.


	10. It's to late

The construction went smoothly for the most part, and the group was set to officially move in to their new home within the next few weeks.

Queen Aleena was often busy, meeting with the President, practicing her magic in private and training Kharis and her daughter, Sonia when she so chose to join.

Manic was busy to, silently keeping tabs on their brother by checking in regularly with the guardian, Knuckles.

Kharis returned to work, and besides the training with the Queen and the weekly family movie nights, she felt dreadfully outcasted.

The secretary, sent by the Vice President to tend to all of the Royal Families needs was an exceptionally beautiful and talented woman named Victoria. Tall and slim with a knock out body and lush locks of hair that fell in a waterfall of curls, she made Kharis feel exceedingly inadequate. And she knew it to.

The woman, when it was just Kharis and herself, was dreadfully rude and cruel. Often she would verbally beat at Kharis and degraded her. The woman made it very clear that Kharis was an eyesore and shouldn't be around the Royal family if she had any common sense.

Thankfully, Kharis had her own means to escape. The young kit, Tails, had gotten into the habit of visiting Kharis at least three times a week after he found out where she had been staying. Imagine his shock to meet Sonic's family! He was sworn to silence of course, and agreed to help Kharis reunite them. Manic and Tails had gotten close, both being good with machines and Tails really liked Sonia and the Queen, but Tails stayed closest with Kharis.

Kharis often read to the kit, held him and worried over him as he would talk to her about tales from Mobius. He was so small and cute and Kharis felt a maternal instinct to the kit. Judging by how often the kit visited, it seemed he felt the same towards the young Human woman, beginning to see her as a mother figure.

Not to say that Kharis was outside the happenings either. Often she was with Amy Rose and Tails over at the Thorndike home or such when Robotnik heart was glowing softly, it's growth in size slowed as it was no longer fueled by a Chaos Emerald.

Of course, Tails and Mr. Chuck often let her use one of their Emeralds when she visited, so they could study and run tests on its powers and affects on her. She also told them about any changes she noted in it as well. Like how how when she got upset it dimmed and when she was very happy it almost glowed as bright as the Chaos Emeralds.

Though she was worried, she suspected Victoria was suspicious about it. No one had told those in the Government about it yet but she had often found the woman snooping around in her room. Without any concrete evidence however...well...the woman was very good at her job as the others didn't know about it.

If only she had worked harder to make the others understand about what Victoria was doing,...perhaps things wouldn't have happened the way they did.

"I've finally found out what the commoner was hiding, Mr. Vice President!" Victoria stated a few days later. The pathetic scum that was tainting the purity of the anthropomorphic Royal family was an eyesore for the beautiful woman, and she tried hard to subtly plant the seeds within the Queens mind to cast the commoner out.

Nothing seemed to work though, and often the red headed woman could not understand why the Queen wanted to keep the ugly little thing so close! Kharis was not very smart, had no political knowledge or power whatsoever. Queen Aleena needed someone like Victoria on her side, not some pathetic commoner.

So imagine Victoria's surprise to find the almost fist sized heart shaped diamond with Kharis' belongings as the other woman bathed. She had snuck in to the woman's room the second she had left to bathe, some comment or excuse she had already forgotten left with the royals for her departure. Quietly she spoke excitedly to her employer, who in turn told her to take various pictures of the item and send to him.

Taking the Heart would be far to risky and would potentially ruin relations between the Government and the Hedgehog Queen if they were to be found out, but that didn't mean the Vice President have an terribly awful idea to get rid of the young school teacher.

As soon as images of the Heart were secured in his phone, the Vice President made another call on a phone that was untraceable. Dealings with the Good Doctor needed to be kept hidden after all...

The next day Kharis and Tails set their plan into action, as Kharis informed him where she had placed the Chaos Emerald from before. Tails hadn't been to happy that she had lied to them originally, but he understood and forgave her.

The rest of that day, as she avoided Victoria's hateful gaze, she and the others went and had a small spa day. Aleena finally got her hair tended to, Sonia got the works and even Manic enjoyed the massage. Even Kharis admitted she felt beautiful to a degree after an Elemental facial!

Then the show began, late that evening as a bright beam of light pierced the evening skies where Kharis knew the Diamond field stadium was. Quickly she rounded the family up and they headed that way, not noticing that Victoria stayed behind a bit to make a phone call before joining them.

The proceeding foot ball game was astounding, if not a little silly. Kharis met up with Tails who led the family to the specialty box seats unnoticed and once it looked like the game had finished with Dr. Robotnik's departure, they struck.

"Now that's what I call a game! But that's not the only excitement we've got, everyone!" Mr. Butler stated into a microphone that resounded cleanly through the speakers of the stadium. Everyone looked perplexed, especially Queen Aleena and her young when Knaris picked up a similar mic beside them.

"They've all fought for so long, it's no secret about the rumors spreading about how these young Heroes have fought long and hard against that madman! Now it's time to give back!" Kharis stated, her voice soft yet strong. She had practiced with Shadow a little each night to make things perfect.

"Long ago this family was torn apart! A mother from her children! The sister from her brothers! Now it's time to give back! And reunite the Royal Family of the Planet Mobius!" The exclaimed together, as Kharis led the befuddled, and shocked Aleena, Manic, and Sonia down the stairs to the field, every screen and camera trained on them for all to see.

Sonic blinked...and the tears were welling up. It felt like an all to vivid dream. Manic was the first to get his barring as they descended, and began to run with Sonia close behind. Kharis had given them this chance to reunite, and as they lept over the wall that separated the bleachers from the field and tackled their brother, they couldn't have been more thankful.

But Kharis continued. "May I present, Princess Sonia! Prince Manic and Prince Sonic! And last but never the least, her highness herself, Queen Aleena!" She cheered, and the large crowd of the already packed stadium roared. Queen Aleena finally made it to her children, hugging Sonic desperately and tearfully.

Glancing up, as Kharis took her spot next to the overjoyed grounds keeper and the young fox, all Aleena could do was nod her head in gratitude before returning to once more hold her children close. They had stayed separated so long, they thought they would never again see be together. But Kharis, sweet sweet Kharis joined them once more.

The crowd was wild, and colorful bits of confetti fell down around everyone on the field. Even Knuckles wore a smirk before Aleena hugged him as well, thanking him for watching out for her son for so long. Everyone, although shocked about Sonic being a Prince, put those thoughts aside as they saw how honestly happy he was to see his family.

Everything was wonderful, so joyous and happy and perfect...then, Victoria struck.

Calling Kharis over while Aleena had her back turned and everyone's focus was on the Royal family, Victoria grinned maliciously as her painted nails dug harshly into Kharis' wrist. "At least you did one thing useful, you stupid fool. Guess we don't need you any more, right?" She spoke sickened sweet so only Kharis could hear.

Dr. Robotnik appeared then, laughing joyously as people screamed. "Time to come with me, my dear. And hello, Queen Aleena and her brats, good to see you alive! Now I can enjoy enslaving you." He cackled evilly as a a horde of robots appeared to keep the heroes busy.

Victoria made a good show of trying to save Kharis, turning to run away. But she had yanked a little to hard on Kharis' arm on purpose which made the young woman trip and fall, only to be clinched painfully in a metal grip.

Her screams resounded, lost in the chaos of the crowd as others screamed to escape even though the robots where only focused on keeping the Mobians busy. She could feel her rib cage bruising under the terrible grip of the robotic arm, the Diamond Heart stabbing into her side as she was lifted off and left suspended beneath the Doctors ship that held her. Tails screamed her name, the first to see what was happening.

One by one the others caught on, and the horror on Aleena's face broke everyone's heart.

"Some...one...please... ** _HELP MEEEEE!"_** Kharis sobbed, but Robotnik wasn't having any of that and tightened the grip on the mechanical arm.

As Kharis' body fell limp, silent inside the raging chaos around them as the others screamed her name. But it was too late, Dr. Robotnik flew away with his kidnapped prize, his evil laugh resounding in the minds and hearts of all those that heard it.

And behind them all, unseen, Victoria silently laughed as well


	11. The Heart of a Child

No matter how they searched, or how many times they broke into Eggman's base they never found her, and never did Eggman give away her location. Aleena tried her best to keep everyone positive, and soon her quick mind figured out what happened after Sonic raced Sam Speed and the Vice President was outed.

Victoria was quickly arrested like the treacherous man and the President couldn't apologize enough. And even though the house had been finished, the Royal family didn't set even a toe on the grounds without their cheerful companion.

Sonia and Amy bonded quickly, taking comfort with each other as Manic did with Tails, the two groups spending their free time either searching for Kharis, or shopping or tinkering in the workshop. Aleena also spent time with her children, and spent long hours of the night with Mr. Chuck, who reminded her so much of her brother in law.

No one knew that Kharis was imprisoned on Dr. Robotnik's secret base, being starved till she was to weak to fight back. As time passed the Doctor had placed a device over her mouth and nose and had dropped her body into a tank.

It was like something out of a terrible scifi movie, the liquid she had been submerged in burning her eyes for a few seconds before what ever it was adjusted to her. If only it ended there, as she cried out as needles stabbed into different parts of her body. She knew not what for, as her tears floated around her in the strange liquid, watching the obese Doctor carry the flickering Heart over to another machine where it was encased in a glass Sphere.

"Now, let's see the effects of the Chaos Emeralds on this Heart and your body, shall we?" He said, his voice eager and sadistic. It was clear he had gathered information on her prior to this...and knew about the reactions between the Heart and the Emeralds with Kharis as the intermediary between them.

She was the key...and Dr. Robotnik was all to happy to see what she unlocked. With that thought in mind...the Doctor flipped the switch that sealed her fate. Then, with out a second thought as the machines whirled and began to pump the energy from his sole Emerald into the heart and into Kharis, he turned to work on his latest invention.

Soon it was going to be his Lucky day.

"Do you really think he'll let Kharis go and help you get home, Knuckles?" Ten year old Chris Thorndike asked as they walked through the quiet forest to Eggman's ship.

"Of course, he wants the Chaos Emeralds, so once he has them he will not need to keep her hostage any more. Plus it will take us all home, and you heard what he said, he wants to return to Mobius as much as I do." The Guardian assured the troubled adolescent.

Chris continued to follow quietly, his head down in thought. Everyone had tried so hard to keep a positive attitude after the woman had been kidnapped. Cream helped Ella, Amy and Sonia began to take lessons together with the Queen...Sonic took more runs then before but also stayed at home a lot to spend time with his family...

Family...since the Mobians came to live with Chris he truly felt like he had gained the family he never had. And now they were planning to leave...to leave the young ten year old boy alone and go back to their true home.

Sure, he had a rich family, knew his parents loved him deeply. He also had Mr. Tanaka, Ms. Ella and his Grandpa, but it still felt large house was cold, and his parents always gone as they lived their dream careers. How often had he stayed awake at night wondering what it would be like to be normal?

His friends often wanted to have sleep overs where he could go to their homes, but their parents always told them no. Christopher Thorndike was a sweet kid, but many of the parents of other children refused to let him stay the night at their home in the worry that unsavory fellows would come. Chris knew that...and he agreed that he didn't want anyone hurt because of him.

Then Sonic and his friends came, with warmth and laughter, excitement and light that brightened up the child's dark, dark days. He met Kharis, who counciled the boy at his more vulnerable times and had even tried to save him on occasion. She filled the hole his mother left, and could see the same was true for the orphaned fox.

He didn't want them to leave...he didn't want to lose any of them. As he stared at Knuckle's back, he had to fight back the tears wanting to cascade. He wanted them happy, wanted them to be able to go home and see their friends back on Mobius.

He had felt the scars on them underneath all that pristine fur, had seen the terrible heart-wrenching and haunted gaze of Queen Aleena when he asked about the past. It had occurred to him that if they stayed, they could have a better, calmer future...but he also knew that hundreds of others like them still needed help.

He knew Mobius needed its ruling family.

So with a heavy heart he trodden behind the Guardian with the Chaos Emeralds stabbing painfully into his little back. Towards Eggman, towards the return of Kharis...and to the departing of his closest friends.


	12. New body, New Life

Kharis screamed, tears running down her cheeks as another wave of electrifying energy ravaged its way through her body. She had screamed so much that no longer did any sound emerge, just specks of blood. In the far reaches of her mind, Kharis could hear Shadow screaming her name as she flickered in and out of consciousness.

Dr. Robotnik laughed as he watched her misery inside his prison tank, wires and tubes jammed into various parts of her body to track her energy readings and vitals. A mask was secured around her nose and mouth as the tank was filled with bio chemicals that enhanced the energies of the chaos emeralds he had in his possession.

Today truly was his lucky day! He had tricked that foolish Guardian, had a second hostage so that pesky blue rodent won't be trying anything hasty, and now he had all of the Chaos Emeralds at his disposal.

Well...almost all of them, they were on their way to retrieve Lucky and the final Emerald right now. With a swish of his large form and a twist of his carefully combed mustache, Dr. Robotnik sauntered off back to the control deck. Humming a happy tune to the whirring machines that fed the power of Emeralds he had secured on deck to the machines in the room connected to his...guest...and the angrily yet weakly pulsing Heart.

For months his plans had been ruined time and time again by that blasted rodent and his friends, and this woman was never to far from them either to give her own brand of annoyance. He had kept a spy drone trained on her after he had first met her, and was giddy when he found she housed the Royal family! He had thought them dead years ago after that blasted light that had sent him and Sonic away to the other side of Mobius.

Dr. Robotnik did notice her growing parental affections for the young fox kit, and vice versa. He often saw the impudent child spending the nights with her after the first few weeks of their meeting, though he was never able to hear what went on inside the deluxe apartment suite itself.

The fact he could mentally damage that brat that dared to call himself a genius compared to the Doctors own superior intellect just made it all the more satisfying! Though he would admit he was glad she had stopped that annoying screaming of hers, it was ruining his beauty sleep.

"BREATHE KHARIS.. ** _YOU HAVE GOT TO BREATHE!"_** Shadow cried desperately from the back of her mind, the faint feeling of his gloved hands on her shoulders flashing in and out. She was flickering between the world of the conscious and that of unconscious, the pain enough to keep her awake even though her brain demanded the relief that passing out would bring.

Her whole body burned, she could feel her organs twisting and reshaping inside her. Her bones snapping and dismantling themselves as her skin felt like it was being peeled from her very muscles. One moment she could feel her body, the next she wished so desperately it would just end!

She tried to focus on Shadow, tried to smile at him in what she fleetingly thought was reassurance, but his shining Ruby eyes were so filled with pain that she knew he was being haunted by his past again.

Again he was left helpless while someone he cared for was in pain. Well, perhaps that was her only wishing again, that he cared for her to such a degree, but at that moment she didn't doubt it for a second, one could not fake the level of emotion he was expressing.

But it wasn't to last, those gentle thoughts, as her body caved in on itself yet seemed to explode at the same time as blood leaked from her eyes like tears. The Heart, now fully matured and at full size glowed one last time with its beautiful clear light, shined one last time with the colors of a mesmerizing rainbow...before darkened and became dull and clouded.

The Mobian floated lifeless in the tank now, shortened down to a vulnerable 4'. Soft brown fur covered her unclothed body as the shredded remains of her previous garments floated in pieces around her.

She had a peach fur muzzle, peach torso that lightly graced the top of the swell of her breasts and her hair was still the same length, although it had taken on a darker chocolate color then her previous medium brunette.

But that wasn't the most startling changes the young 23 year old went through. In place of her normal ears were two long rabbit ears similar to ones found on a Cashmere Lop bunny, beginning on the sides of her head and reached just a bit shy of her waist. They were the same color as her fur and the same color as the sleek cats tail that protruded from her backside.

 _Shadow stared, the unconscious Mobian laid unmoving with her head in his lap. How many hours had he been forced to stand by as she was tortured in the waking world? She, who was once a normal human woman for the most part was now smaller, more fragile and was a Mobian creature like him._

 _Her form had finally solidified here in the White Void, meaning her mind had finally shut down. But still she laid unmoving, her eyes closed though her body still twitched in spasms of pain every now and then even there._

 _His eyes pointedly stayed off her bare form, knowing she would feel very scared and exposed even though the soft fur that covered her new body hid anything of an embarrassing nature. Such as it did with him, clad only with his limiters, gloves, socks and shoes._

 _The Heart laid beside him, dark and dull without its usual soft glow and clear form. Even though she had shrank in height, she was still taller than him. Often he cursed this small body he held, but knew he could not change this created body of his until he to was in the waking world._

 _So as he pondered the ways to try and change his immortal teenaged body, he idly ran his hands, now ungloved through her short hair. Her fur was almost mesmerizingly soft, and despite the foul stench of the liquid she had been incased in lingering around, her fur was pristine and dry and her natural smell broke through._

 _What concerned him most was what was happening to her body back in the real world._

 _"Mark my words...once I am released...I will find you Kharis...and I will not allow anyone else to harm what is mine ever again..._ _ **.this I do so solemnly swear**_ _.." He murmured darkly, bending down to nuzzle and kiss her forehead._

Back in reality Robotnik had fled as Sonic, in his Super Form, had destroyed his Robot after that little brat had taken out the Chaos Emeralds that had powered it. The resulting Chaos Control brought Angel Island and Mystic Ruins to this world instead of sending them home as Knuckles had thought.

Everyone was hurt badly that had been caught in the battle, Chris had been hospitalized for a few weeks and so was Sonic, though after the first few days he freaked out about being cooped up and dashed off.

He also said something about needing at least a dozen Chilidogs as the stubborn Ella had refused to make them while he was recuperating.

Though Sonic had at least the dignity to return for his Mother and siblings, and often swung by to visit Chris. The heavy air didn't disappear. The reason for that was the strange naked Mobian woman they found in a stasis tank in the remains of Eggman's robot.

Chuck and Tails ran a DNA test on the woman, after Ella had cleaned and dressed the strange hybrid. Something hadn't set right with them, and Tails recognized her scent beneath the burning scent of chemicals. Despite the disbelief of the results, they proved she was indeed Kharis.

They also recovered the Heart, leaving it on a small pillow beside the bed. It took a few days before she finally awoke to tearful eyes and joyful celebrations, the recovered Chris joining in as well and Tails never found more than 5 feet from her.

It took Kharis some time to get used to her new body, having to relearn how to walk and such. Her ears allowed her to hear everything with such a clarity she felt it was unreal, and her eyesight was far better than even 20/20. Cream became another companion glued to her side, the tiny bunny feeling more comfortable around the rabbit, cat hybrid.

Soon after Amy went to stay at a small apartment with Chris's mom, the woman wanting to know more about her sons little friends and oblivious to the horrors he had so recently faced. The woman was in town for a quick movie shoot after all, and tending to her whims was her specialty.

The Royal Family plus Kharis officially moved into their new home, Kharis being supported lightly by the Queen. Kharis could have cried, seeing the blooming Camellias- 'Pink Perfections'- growing in thick, tight bushes around the front of the mansion. She had only mentioned her favorite flower in light passing to Sonia and Manic!

Sonic stayed on and off with them, having his own room at the Mansion but preferring to stay mostly with Chris. Cream stayed at the Thorndike mansion as well, though Tails was more often at Kharis' home.

Queen Aleena picked up from her lessons, though the new body Kharis had obtained came with a perfected posture as the bone structure and muscle strength was naturally stronger and more upright than a humans. So instead of teaching posture still, Aleena shifted it to maintaining the posture.

It was one night when they were all together that Kharis voiced her concerns shakily over dinner.

 _"Will I ever be able to return to being human...?"_ She questioned, and everyone lowered their heads. "I think so, though I have never heard of a human becoming a Mobian or vice versa..." Aleena stated softly, trying to help give Kharis a glimmer of hope.

"I know you've been trying to a lot lately, every time you meditate..." Manic began. "...but maybe your trying to hard? I think this form is a part of you now, just like how being human is a part of you. Your trying so hard to return to something that you never really stopped being." Sonia finished. She had studied quiet a bit from both her mother and the Oracle after Mobotropolis had been freed, so she had a bit of an understanding on the ways of magic.

The others spoke up to, voicing their agreements and encouragement to the young woman. "Thank you..everyone. I don't know what I would do without you." Kharis stated, smiling a true smile in what felt like an eternity.

The Heart eventually took back on its original clear, colorless form and shined softly. The Queen informed Kharis that the reason was because the Heart was spiritually, and physically, linked to the heart beating in her chest and as such responded to her emotions and spirit.

Added to her lessons now, Kharis began to train on how to use the mysterious powers of her Diamond Heart and was able to return to her original human form, much to her relief. Through another month of training Kharis could almost seamlessly transform from one form to the other with minimal pains.

The only other sad thing was that Kharis had been removed from her previous job completely, leaving her jobless and completely dependent on the Government and the Royal family's kindness, and the prior had already failed her before.

This left her time to wander aimlessly through the woods on their land, sit in the flower gardens to think, or curl up by the fireside to read. Sometimes to herself, sometimes to Tails.

Many would have been thought this as heaven, but all she felt like was a burden. So she studied harder than ever through the Queen's lessons, and spoke to Shadow more often then before, much to their joy.

She even read books to him, when she could get them to appear with her. Shadow had changed after her near death experience, staying close to her and always touching her in some way, whether he was laying his head in her lap or vice versa. She wasn't sure why he began to act so, though she often saw him contemplating- really it seemed more like brooding- over her Diamond Heart when he asked to hold it.

But that was all before Shadow disappeared from the White Abyss.


	13. Lost in Despair

The following takes place before Shadow disappears from the White Abyss**** ((Please listen to "If Only" from the movie "Descendants" as you read to set the mood))

The days scrolled by interestingly enough. Tails was a constant by Kharis' side, helping Aleena and the others teach the young woman turned Mobian how to walk and adjust to her new body. Kharis didn't mind it, she enjoyed spending time with the little 8 year old kit and often she spent the time brushing his fur for him after a bath while he regaled her with tales of their adventures.

They did some digging, curious about her new form and it's mixed DNA. The rabbit ears she received were closest in appearance and texture of a Cashmere lop bunny. Her tail reminiscent of an Active Abyssinian.

Her fur was so soft, like that a of new born bunnies. So much so was it that she often had to deal with being petted by her friends. She didn't mind, though it made her blush heavily each time.

Cream was another companion, who like Tails, spent most of her time at the Royal Family's home other than the Thorndyke's just to be close to Kharis. Everyone guessed that the little bunny felt more comfortable with Kharis, missing her mother so much. When Kharis wasn't bogged down with studies and etiquette lessons alongside Sonia and Amy, she could be found reading stories to the children in the gardens. Though more and more as the days passed, Kharis went into town less and less...

Especially after going to the small middle school where she once taught. No one knows what happened but she had came home late that day looking like she had been crying although she never gave them the reason why.

It was a few days later that everyone found out, meeting up at the Thorndyke mansion to discuss the changes that had happened with the appearance of the Mystic Ruins and Angel Island. Kharis had gone outside with Cream to make flower crowns while Tails and Mr. Chuck ran some tests on the Diamond Heart.

Sonic was looking over, after a wrestling match with Manic when the green hedgehog tried to mess with the Blue Blurs trademark quills. Aleena had just confessed about the strange goings on with Kharis and what had happened that day.

"Oh, that's cause some stupid woman down at the school yelled at her and they banned her from stepping foot on the premises again." He piped up, releasing Manic from his playful choke hold.

" _WHAT?!"_ They exclaimed, everyone focusing on the now scowling hero. "Yeah, I was out on my run when I saw it. I saw her walking towards the school, so I jumped up into a nearby tree to see what was happening. It's not safe for her to be by herself after all with Egghead still running around..."

"At first it looked like everything was fine, they were of course startled by her new appearance but the children still seemed to adore her. The Principal, well I guess it was him since he was so old...was really kind and genuinely seemed to be happy she was at least alive and well despite her change. But another teacher was pretty...suspicious."

"What do you mean by that, bro?" Manic asked as he sat up rubbing his neck. Everyone was on edge of their seats, waiting with baited breathe.

Sonic scowled deeper, eyes flashing almost dangerously. "One of them came up and yanked a child out of Kharis' arms when she was giving them a hug..."

*Flashback*

"Kaitlyn what was that for?!" Kharis asked in shock, her arms stinging from the force the other woman used to yank the young boy out of her arms. "Your dangerous you stupid woman! How dare you show up here?! Are you trying to hurt us? Are you trying to kill the children?"

Kaitlyn was a robust woman in her mid-40s, happily married with two children of her own and a kind, meek husband. She was the senior teacher at the school, having taught there for 20 years. Her pinned black hair, conservative clothing and sharp tongue demanded respect from everyone and harsh punishment if not given.

She was also one of those who always taunted and tortured Kharis, saying the woman was too inept and childish to be a good role-model for the children. Now she towered over the woman's smaller 4' body with her 6' height.

"N-no! I didn't think tha-" "Right, you didn't think. You never think, you ignorant fool." Kaitlyn berated with a sneer before it turned into a cruel smirk. "In fact, it's almost a good thing you came, now we can tell you in person."

"T-Tell me...what?" Kharis stammered, now left alone with the woman and the Principal. He spoke up, his kind eyes full of sorrow behind his thick glasses. "I'm afraid what Mrs. Ambrandor is referring to is that unfortunately we have been... **forced** to cancel your contract permanently..."

"You...mean I'm fired? I mean...I know I was gone for quiet a while but..."

"It's not due to your absence my dear, I can understand that. If it was up to me, you would have not been terminated at all. But the Board of Directors for the Educational system here in our country have...deemed you a High Risk target for that madman. They don't want anyone hurt or killed if he decides to attack a school where your employed so...they...have ...banned you from stepping on the grounds or being employed at any teaching institute."

The principal had tried to break the news as gently as possible, though Kaitlyn's sneer added fiery salt to the fresh wounds. Kharis just nodded, her face blank as her body felt numb. She bid goodbye to them for the last time, the Principal apologizing again.

Sonic witnessed it all from the tree, growling as Kharis' fragile form disappeared down the road.

*End flashback*  
"That's horrible..." Aleena whispered weakly, her dainty hands covering her mouth in shock. Amy was furious, already holding her hammer. Sonia gazed numbly down to the floor as Manic growled alongside his brother.

Tails was close to tears alongside Chris, and Chuck had to avert his head with a pained expression. After everything Kharis had already been through, to loose her job and be banned from ever stepping foot on any school grounds again?

"She..." Sonia started, breaking the silence that had settled over them like a dense, foreboding fog. "She once told me how teaching children had been her dream...She always looked so happy when I talked to her about it..."

"I...think I'm going to go play with Cream and Mama..." Tails stated quietly, running out the door and down the steps towards the garden where the girls were playing . Amy followed him, the group sitting there in silence once more as the word Tails used sunk in. The kit really looked up to Kharis as a mother figure, which made sense seeing as how the poor boy was an orphan for so long with only Sonic as a big brother figure and then being met by Kharis' own motherly personality.  
Aleena went and pulled her own children into a tight embrace, knowing that not only herself but they needed it right now.

"So...think we can find out where the old hag lives and give her a scare?" Manic asked, once released from his mother's desperate grip. Chuck immediately began the search on his computer as Aleena admonished him, but the hedgehog triplets were set for revenge for their friend.

A few days later the news was covering the special of a small suburban home that had been egged, toilet papered and the words "BEWARE THE WITCH INSIDE" that had been burned into the front lawn. Not to mention the few very expensive and even priceless pieces of jewelry and artwork that had been stolen...

"Kharis, have you been eating right?" Aleena asked in concern one Saturday afternoon as the two shared a small bit of refreshments in the garden. They sat in delicate lace designed white chairs with Deli Spirals for snacks. The Queen drank tea, while Kharis sipped on Sprite in her own soft white, fine china cup as the scents of roses, lilies, lavender and camellias swept their senses.

Today was also the first day in which Kharis was free from the companionship of Tails and Cream, the children hanging out with the others back at Chris' home. So the two were enjoying their rare moment of solitude as Sonia and Manic were off with Sonic.

"P-Pardon?" The young woman whimpered weakly, her medium brunette hair bouncing and waving as her head snapped up. It had been bare a week since she had finally managed to return to her human form. Despairingly she had hoped the others would not have noticed...but she had put on a few pounds from all of the stress. Often she found herself snacking idly as she read or studied, and within the last few days she noticed her stomach had grown.

Embarrassed to be seen like that around the Royals and their perfectly slim figures, Kharis had taken to wearing thicker clothes that were baggy in the hopes they would not catch on. Seems she hadn't tried hard enough as the Queen gazed at her critically while she pulled her light pink cardigan tighter around her.  
"It seems you have gained weight at an alarming rate, the maids informed me earlier about how often you had been snacking as you poured over the books in the library after our lessons. While I am curious as to what has exactly spurred this sudden obsession in your studies, I am far more concerned about your health."  
The queen did not even need to state the question in words, the silent command to explain a heavy compulsion in her sweet voice as her Sea green eyes stared into Kharis' own Hazel.

"I...I don't know what to do any more...Teaching children was my life, my dream ever since I was a teenager. Now I can no longer do so, as the rumor has spread much like a cancer of the dangers that follow me. I can no longer step foot on the grounds of a school, and many people who see me in town lock their doors in a hurry or avoid me. I can understand that their afraid."

" I mean, who wouldn't be after seeing someone who lived and worked in the same town, grew up and raised in the same country, come back transformed into a different race entirely and be targeted by a madman obsessed with machines and world Domination? You have so kindly proposed to teach me the ways of a true lady, but I am still so childish, insignificant and ...barbaric... that I fear I bring you shame each day."

"And...my Heart...it's so powerful now that I confess I am afraid as well. My body is reacting, every hour I can feel my bones shift and muscles tense to return to that other form. And with everything that has happened, now that I have had the time to truly stop and think...I...I don't know who I even am anymore...My body has never looked the exact way I wanted it to, but it was mine and the one thing that always allowed me to know who I was. Now it's changing and I can feel the strange flow of power in my veins...it's no longer a body I recognize..."

The Queens eyes turned stormy, unbeknownst to the young woman across from her who had lowered her head in shame after her lengthy confessions. Aleena had feared this, that such changes so quickly would break the human woman's already fragile hold on her self confidence and esteem. She had to give Kharis credit though, even Aleena had not noticed the woman's gain in weight until the maids had brought it to her attention. The woman was crafty and far to good at hiding the things that truly bothered her. It had taken her son to tell them about the mishap at the school! Though perhaps, Aleena reflected guiltily, she too had been more preoccupied with her children to stop and notice the subtle changes.

"Your not alone, during the war I often felt inadequate and helpless in the face of the tyrannical Dr. Robotnik. If it was not for the fact I had to continue fighting for my children...There would have been no doubt that I would not be sitting here today."

"I had lost my Kingdom, my husband, and even my children. Many a nights I had turned to the blade, thinking...wishing I could end it all. The only thought that kept me from ending it was one day being reunited with my little ones and saving our Kingdom...our Planet...from Dr. Robotnik's tyranny."

At that Kharis' head snapped up, eyes wide in shock that the powerful, graceful Queen just implied she had thought of committing suicide before. The Queens gaze was level, but there was a depth of despair Kharis shuddered to imagine. A well of guilt lodged itself in Kharis' heart...hearing such a thing from Aleena made her problems look so...stupid and insignificant.

"Perhaps a change in the schedule is in order. You've come far in your Etiquette lessons that I do not believe a break would hinder you. We will start again with exercising daily and focus our efforts on you and your Heart to help find a balance between you. Starting with a visit to Angel Island and the Master Emerald."  
Aleena announced, sipping her Rosemary tea as if to finalize the arrangements. Aleena had to find a way for Kharis to be at ease with herself once more, or her and her Heart would fall to ruin.

The Heart was a very magical jewel, and through it others could get a good idea of how Kharis felt, though Kharis had kept it hidden from sight almost obsessively since the incident with Victoria...It had a strange power they couldn't figure out, and that mysterious power had to be handled with the utmost care.

Dim and cloudy when she was upset or confused, clear and glittering when she was peaceful or happy...it wasn't just her heart made physical, it was her very soul given tangible form, and radiated a normally small amount of energy compared to the Chaos Emeralds. But Aleena knew it was far more powerful now than before Kharis was kidnapped, fueled by a large wave of both positive and negative energies from the Chaos Emeralds because of Robotnik. It could even be because of those chaotic energies that were poured into her so cruelly that her attitude and moods were in such a painful, downward spiral.

In truth the Planetary Queen had very little idea on how to work with such a case, so she prayed that the Master Emerald and its Guardian could help find the support Kharis needed.

Aleena had already lost one sister before, and had lost her dear brother for years due to his Robotization...She lost her husband...she had to give up her children and miss their entire childhood...She couldn't lose Kharis.

 _*DreamScape*_

"So your on a ..plane...going towards an Island that floats in the sky?" Shadow asked, laying his head idly on the sitting woman's lap and playing with the cords on the housecoat she wore that ended with little white Pompoms.

She nodded, glad he finally understood what she was trying to say after trying to explain what an Airplane was...She made the mental note to get a few books on them to bring to the Dark hedgie.

Honestly, why was it so hard to grasp the concept of an Airplane when the man had grown up on a Spaceship from what he had told her? That just didn't make any form of sense to her.

She glanced around with a contented smile gracing her pale pink lips as she idly stroked her fingers through his soft, relaxed quills. Surrounding them were books she had been reading to them. She brought mainly Fairy Tales, but he didn't seem to mind and had even taken to quoting Aladdin!

She had found it so cute, though he got embarrassed and had chased her around 'threatening' he would kill her if she ever told anyone such a thing. She knew he was kidding of course, the smirk on his face saying such.

Though after her talk with Queen Aleena, Kharis shared those worries with Shadow as well, and whimpered as his quills went on edge and stabbed into her legs. He relaxed them immediately as the smell of blood began to pervade the air, her legs now sporting slim, shallow cuts and pinpricks.

"Damn them for making you feel inferior..." He cursed.

It was ironic, as he had used the same sentence when she had told him what had happened at the school. He was the only one she openly confessed such a thing to, but hadn't told him what all was bothering her until now...after she had first confessed it to the Queen. Something told her he was upset at that fact as well, not being the first she told to about the rest of her problems though she didn't understand why.

"It wasn't them Shadow! It's my own inadequate tendency! Their just trying to help me..." Kharis defended, and Shadow just scowled more. With a sigh, knowing he couldn't do much right now as he was trapped in this White Abyss, he reached over and grabbed a book of **_"Old Victorian Mannerisms for the Nobility and Higher Classes"._**

She hadn't meant to fall asleep with the book, never meant to bring it here but it seemed she had passed out while studying so it was brought along by accident. Every book she brought stayed here after the initial act of bringing it, so she didn't have to worry about falling asleep awkwardly with a pile of books.  
Useful, as it gave the Ultimate Life Form some entertainment while she was back in the waking world. "Well then, if the so called Queen is going not going to continue the lessons on Poise, Grace and Posture to help you exercise and become better in-tune with your Heart, shall we practice privately?" He practically purred as he sat up to capture her eyes with his half lidded ones, his smirk confident and alluring in it's dark edge.

It gave the desired effect, as her cheeks flushed a bright red and she curled in on herself slightly, pulling her knees closer to her chest. She was trying her hardest to not look directly at him while stuttering, leaning away from him as if to escape those captivating eyes.

Shadow found he loved teasing her, and never passed up the chance to do so as he chuckled at her reaction. They never failed to amuse the dark hedgehog as he once more had to get up and chase her down as she tried to flee in her embarrassment.

He was finding he enjoyed her being pinned beneath him as well, though it never lasted long with his smaller body much to his ire.  
_

Kharis had fun trying to explain the cuts and pinpricks the next morning as they landed on Angel Island, and while the wounds healed within the hour, she had to deal with the suspicious gaze of the hedgehog Queen.

It was only Kharis and Aleena right now, the children staying back in Station Square to hang out with the others. Aleena had thought it would be better if it was just them as Knuckles wasn't to hyped about having too many visitors on his island. Not that Kharis could blame the Echidna. So as it was Aleena left Kharis upon the Altar of the Master Emerald and ordered her to meditate, as she and Knuckles went off to discuss some things in private. Knuckles wasn't thrilled about leaving Kharis there and leaving his post, but he consented after the Queen informed Knuckles about needing the help of a professional for Kharis' situation.

Knuckles knew where to go, and with a critical eye to the nervous young woman, led Queen Aleena to some underground ruins near the Hidden Palace Zone where some ancient scrolls he had managed to recover were stored. This left Kharis all alone with the Master Emerald, which she sat and leaned against as the gently beams of the morning sun filtered through the clouds and warmed her. Unbidden she felt tears begin to leak from her eyes, and she curled up to cry silently. How selfish could she be? She should never have told the queen how she felt, should never have spoken up. It was like growing up all over again, with people saying she was rude and ill mannered.

She knew the Queen had been through so much, her and the others. But Kharis still openly dumped her problems on the woman...what was wrong with her? How much of a burden was she wanting to be?

She even dumped her insignificant problems and woes on Shadow, who had also been through so much. ...  
"I shouldn't even be here..." She murmured despairingly. She was not expecting an answering voice.  
"What makes you think that?" Came the sweet voice that floated from behind her.

Kharis jumped up, startled and scared. Other than Knuckles, Aleena and herself no one else was supposed to be on the island. Her eyes scanned the surroundings desperately, on edge as her hand flew to her pocket of her long coat that hid the Heart.

From behind the large Master Emerald, a sweet looking pale orange female echidna emerged. Kharis had to rub her red eyes quickly, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her at first.

It had almost looked like she had been see-through for a second there!

"Oh please do not be afraid! I did not mean to startle you!" She said, her hands up in a non-threatening manner. "My name is Tikal. I...live here. Though the Guardian doesn't know, so please don't tell him yet! I'm ...terribly shy you see...I'll introduce myself to him soon enough.."

Kharis couldn't see any deceit or sense any ill will from the young thing, so slowly calmed down. Her earnest sky blue eyes were so much like Tails as well...honest and hopeful and so full of innocence.

"U-um...okay. Though I thought Knuckles was the last of his kind? I bet it would make him very happy if you introduced yourself to him..so he wouldn't be so alone..." Kharis said gently, once more taking her seat as the young Echidna settled beside her. Her wardrobe was so strange...tribal she could guess.

"There...are reasons on why I can't. But tell me...why are you so upset...?" Tikal asked, her face serene and concerned.

"I-It's nothing, sweetie. I'm perfectly alright!" Kharis stated, forcing a smile to grace her lips so as to not make the young girl worry.

"Please do not lie to me, one does not cry and wish she was gone for 'nothing." Tikal stated, and unknown to Kharis used the energy from the Master Emerald to 'push' the command to tell her into the elder beside her. It reacted easily with the Heart to get the results she wanted.

Without fully understanding why she felt so compelled to tell, Kharis spilled everything to the girl beside her. Once done, she panted before slapping her hands to her mouth in despairing shock.

Now she was telling a complete stranger her troubles? _What the hell was wrong with her?!_

She squeezed her eyes shut, tears beginning to leak out once more though was startled for the second time as she felt the light almost non-tangible arms of the girl beside her wrapping around her.

"So you think you shouldn't be here...you shouldn't be interacting with everyone, shouldn't be in this story you've found yourself in...but you know the difference?"  
At this Kharis blinked, looking up at Tikal. The Echidna female winced, her heart hurting for the adult beside her in which she was holding. Kharis' face looked so young and fragile, confused and curious for what the mobian had to say.

"This is your story. Everyone and anyone knows the story for your friends, perhaps things did work differently in another world, one where you did not exist, one where perhaps the Royal family were not reunited and things were experienced in different ways. But this story is your own. Your experiencing this, no one else."  
"And no one understands that, no one stops to try and notice the problems your facing. If this was a book one would probably write you off as you describe yourself, weak and insecure. But what they and you don't understand is that you've been battling this for months. Your so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. So who cares what others think? Who cares if others write you off? You should know the truth, and those who care for you the most do as well."  
Kharis blinked, the waterfalls of tears drippling down once more. Tikal was right.

Perhaps those who hated her...who wrote her off...they just didn't know her as she was. They would rather see about Sonic and his adventures with the others, but instead they got her. But why should she care?

Slowly, the Heart began to shine once more, the cloudy dullness fading away to it's beautiful clear coloring once more as Kharis' mind began to clear. She had friends who did care about her, even when others didn't. At some point she seemed to have unofficially (or officially if Queen Aleena had her way...) adopted young Tails as her son. And even more importantly...she had herself.

Tikal was right...this was her story. No one else's. She was herself, no matter what happened to her body or what happened around her. She was her...She was Kharis...and her Diamond Heart was hers alone and that was the one thing that could never change.

Perhaps the issues she was facing weren't totally fixed yet, but at least a core of it was for now. Kharis could get by bottling the rest up to deal with later.

Tikal was happy, able to help the young woman to a degree. The damage was far from healed, but now Kharis was on the right step. She let the woman go as Kharis stood, shrugging off the heavy coat as the Island warmed up more. Her dark green dress fluttered with it's light fabric in the soft breeze, dotted with little flowers all over. It was one of the gifts she had received in her new wardrobe the family had picked out for her, and was one of her favorites.

Of all the irony, it was one that Manic had picked out, which she found out later on as Sonia teased him after Kharis stated she loved the dress.

She dug out the Heart, smiling sweetly to Tikal. "I better start meditating before the Queen returns. I don't want another lecture.." She said with a giggle, and soon bid her new friend farewell.

Tikal pretended to go down the steps of the tall shrine, though she disappeared the moment she was out of sight, returning to her home inside the Master Emerald. She was content for now, and while Kharis meditated outside, Tikal focused the energies of the Master Emerald into the Diamond Heart from the inside. It was the only thing she could do to help, hoping with all her heart it would give Kharis the strength to handle whatever could come next.

It was only a few days later when Dr. Robotnik shattered the Master Emerald and unleashed it's other occupant, Chaos.


End file.
